Knight ready to unleash her own Bazball approach to win Ashes as well as new fans

THE Women’s Ashes today got under way here at Trent Bridge, with England looking for their first series win since 2013-14 to regain the Urn.

- Cameron Ponsonby

England are huge underdogs but have shown their colours early as they pursue a hyper-aggressive strategy to take the game to an Australia team, who chose to bat after winning the toss this morning, considered the best in the world.

England captain Heather Knight said: “When I started out playing Test cricket as a youngster, I felt like I had to go super defensive, it’s all about survival. I’ve kind of learned it’s all about runs.”

The women’s game is a white-ball dominant sport. Knight, a mainstay of the England team since 2010, has 227 ODI and T20 internationals to her name, compared to just 10 Tests. Rather than fret over playing ‘traditional’ Test cricket, England will adopt the skill-sets that won them the 2017 World Cup. “That’s what comes naturally to us and I guess it’s probably going to be closer to a white-ball game than more Test cricket,” said Knight.