LISA STHALEKAR: Heather Knight’s England team being criticised by English press shows women’s Ashes counts

The only good thing to come from the Ashes rout the English are suffering is the criticism they are copping back home.

Now, hear me out, as while it’s never nice to be ripped to shreds by the ruthless hacks of Fleet Street, it actually is a positive sign for women’s cricket in the kingdom.

It means finally the sport is being taken seriously, with Australia looking like they may whitewash the visitors after securing the Ashes already after three ODIs and one T20.

Unfortunately, it will make the MCG Test at the end of the month a dead rubber, but with the shellacking the English women have received from their media, they will be fired up to win the red-ball finale.

For England’s fans, it has been a difficult series to watch. It hasn’t been as one-sided as the results reflect. England have had their chances on numerous occasions, none more so than when they botched the run chase of 180 in the second ODI at Junction Oval to lose by 21 runs.

England’s poor performance hasn’t gone unnoticed back home, with some of the headlines reading: “England Women need to cut the niceties and learn from Australia’s ruthlessness”; “When men lose Ashes Down Under there’s an inquest. Women must have the same”; “Heather Knight’s side made to pay for sloppiness against an admittedly power-packed Australia; is pressure mounting on captain Knight and coach Jon Lewis after the latest struggles in crunch games?”

Is it wrong of me to be happy with these headlines?

Previously getting any coverage of the women’s game was hard going no matter how well you played or how many trophies you won.

And when women’s games were covered, it was mostly banal and soft. There was never an in-depth analysis of a team’s performance, either good or bad.

As the professionalism in the game has grown, so has the level of media coverage.

More past female players, like myself, are now involved in covering the game and what comes with that is a deeper understanding of how women play.

Seven cricket commentator Alex Hartley was scathing of the English team after their early exit from the T20 World Cup last year, and it did not go unnoticed in the dressing room.

“Australia have got 15 or 16 athletes, genuine athletes … 80 per cent of the England team are fit and athletic enough, but there are girls in that side that are letting the team down when it comes to fitness,” she told the BBC.

Since then, Hartley believes that she has been given the cold shoulder by several members of the England team. Sophie Ecclestone failed to front for a pre-game interview for the last T20 at the SCG on Monday.

Former English player Isabelle Westbury, who also covers the game, posted on social media: “England’s game awareness, maturity, fitness, accountability, leadership etc. have not only stalled but regressed. These are now well-paid pros who are being treated like mollycoddled pre-teens, and the England setup don’t appear to have found a way to treat them as grown women playing pro sport for fear of broaching issues such as mental health, body image, culture.”

Both commentators have given their perspective on what they believe is the stark difference between the two sides. That is their job. And knowing them both, they hate the fact that Australia wins all the time. Both would love nothing more than for England to be successful on the field, with the Poms beating the Aussies.

When you come up against an Australian team or play in an ICC event, it is a reality. Especially in the multi-format series against Australia, there is no place to hide.

England’s reaction to the criticism they are facing is somewhat alarming.

They have a young squad who are struggling to deal with the pressure.

Several players have burst onto the scene from a very young age through The Hundred, the Women’s Big Bash League, and the Women’s Premier League.

They have reached stardom and success quickly.

Now they are finding cricket is like a rollercoaster; you can have some absolute highs, but the lows can be extremely low. It takes strong individuals to ride these extremes.

Resilience is something that can’t be taught, only gained from lived experiences. The England team is going through it right now.

The real question is, what will be the fallout from this series? Will England fight their way back to prove a point or continue their surrender to the Aussie juggernaut?