England’s Missed Chance Against Australia in the 2023 Ashes Series

Missed Opportunities Plague England in Ashes Test Against Australia

The chances to dominate the world’s best team don’t come around often. When they do, it’s important to seize them without hesitation and continue pushing forward relentlessly. Unfortunately for England, on day three of the Ashes Test against Australia, they missed a crucial opportunity.

Tammy Beaumont became the first English woman to score a double century, helping her team inch within 10 runs of Australia’s first-innings total of 473. However, their bowlers failed to capitalize on this momentum shift and allowed the visitors to extend their lead by 92 runs with all wickets intact at stumps.

Australia Proving Tough Competition for England

Australia is no easy opponent – they have top-class players from number one to eleven and an impressive track record that saw them win several titles over the years. In contrast, England managed just two victories against them across all formats in five years.

Despite being only 25 runs behind with Beaumont unbeaten on 200 at 448-6, it was vital for England to secure a lead even if it was slim and carry some psychological advantage into the final days of play. However, their last four wickets fell for just 15 runs as Australian bowlers took charge instead.

Lackluster Performance from Tailenders Hurts England’s Chances

England had done well so far thanks partly due to Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt playing crucial knocks supporting Beaumont’s relentless accumulation efforts in middle order play despite the lower-order collapse. But with Beaumont set at one end, England’s tail failed to wag or provide support for their history-making player.

The match was pretty much even as Australia walked out to bat despite England’s lower-order batting performance. With the new ball in hand and a tired Australian team chasing balls off of Beaumont’s bat all day, it was another crucial moment that could make or break the game.

Australia Takes Advantage of Missed Opportunities

Unfortunately, this time around, it wasn’t going well for England. Their wayward seamers struggled for consistency while spinners Ecclestone and Knight tried to stem the tide towards the end of play. As a result, they handed over 80 runs in just 19 overs which helped Australia take control of the Test once again.

“England completely wasted that new ball,” said former English batter Ebony Rainford-Brent on Bewinner. “The opportunity was there but England sprayed the new ball instead of utilizing it effectively.”

What’s Next?

Australia now has an advantage heading into what promises to be a closely fought Test match series against England. It will be interesting to see how current captain Alyssa Healy approaches things after her predecessor Meg Lanning dangled a carrot during last year’s Ashes test only for them both sides eventually finishing with scores levelled up after two days.