England women's hopes of winning back the Ashes killed off by the rain and Ellyse Perry's brilliance

As the rain streamed across the outfield late into the afternoon session on day two, England’s hopes of winning back the Ashes went with it too. If they had been remote by the close of play on day one, they were all but non-existent at the same time the following day. Ellyse Perry (116) had got her century and Australia, just five wickets down, had 341 on the board.

Death, taxes and Ellyse Perry scoring tons in Test cricket is all that is certain in this tumultuous world. The rain may have been out of England’s control, but some of what went before was well within it. Any team after 105 overs in the field might find it difficult to find the reserves of energy and enthusiasm needed to face Perry and co, but England, by this stage, had little choice.

This is the conundrum facing England: their biggest problem, following the ODIs, was their batting but their biggest challenge, approaching the Test, was that they needed 20 wickets. And England, unfortunately, do not have the depth to attend to both at the same time. 

With Tom Harrison, the ECB’s Chief Executive, in attendance, the only hope is that he, and the other powers that be, understand that this mismatch we are seeing unfold is a reflection of the relative depths of each country’s women’s domestic infrastructure. England, as this Ashes is revealing, are sorely far behind.

Source: The Telegraph

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