(Reuters) – Deputy CEO Clare Connor has promised that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will launch an “honest” review into England’s 16-0 loss to Australia in the women’s Ashes, but stressed that the team did not lack professionalism.
On Saturday, Australia defeated England by an innings and 122 runs in the one-off test in Melbourne to complete a clean sweep of the multi-format series.
England, who have not won the Ashes since 2014, have had a number of disappointing performances in recent months and also suffered a group-stage exit in last year’s Women’s Twenty20 World Cup.
“This group of players care deeply about playing for England and they will be hurting, they are hurting hugely from what’s happened over this last month,” Connor told the BBC in an interview published on Sunday.
“There isn’t a lack of professionalism and I don’t recognise a cosiness. But all of that, I understand, is going to be brought into these conversations when a team has underperformed to the extent that we have.”
The crushing defeat to Australia has also led to speculation over the futures of captain Heather Knight and head coach Jon Lewis.
“There is nobody more disappointed about this tour than Heather and Jon,” Connor said.
“They’ve poured every ounce of themselves into this and I think that’s been evident. Everything will be looked at with real honesty when we get back.
“Cricket fans and everybody as disappointed as us by this tour can rest assured that we won’t shy away from holding the mirror up and having tough and honest conversations about how we move forward because this has been an enormously disappointing tour.”
England next host the West Indies for three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals in May and June.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Nashik, India; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
