England need some honest reflection as failed ‘Jon-Ball’ all but ends Ashes hopes

The only time I saw Meg Lanning cry was immediately after the 2017 World Cup semi-final. Australia had been unexpectedly gut-punched by Harmanpreet Kaur, sent packing from a tournament they were favourites to win. Lanning was trying to make sense of it all and was so upset you could hear her voice breaking.

What happened after that is well documented: Lanning went away determined never to experience defeat again. She built a ruthless dynasty that won the next four World Cups, Commonwealth Games gold and every Ashes series.

Fast forward seven years to October 2024 and Australia were once again knocked out in a World Cup semi-final, this time by South Africa. Their response has mirrored 2017: they have regrouped, pulled out dominant ODI series wins against India and New Zealand and are now 6-0 up in an Ashes series. In the past week, they have dug deep to defend 180, and were last seen in Hobart on Friday notching up more than 300 runs, after record performances from their No 6, Ash Gardner, and No 8, Georgia Wareham.

Compare that with England’s response to some recent high-profile defeats – and there are plenty to choose from. Just over a year ago, they experienced their worst Test result in a generation, losing to India by 347 runs. In October, they were unexpectedly booted out of the T20 World Cup by West Indies after completely losing their heads in the field. Now here they are close to Ashes defeat after squandering what should have been a winning position in the second ODI in Melbourne.

Defeats happen – this is international sport. It’s how teams respond to losing that is the crucial bit. Facing it square on, being honest about what went wrong, showing humility: all are critical. Losing hurts, but it can make teams stronger. Australia are the epitome of that.

How, then, do England handle defeat? Apparently by either trying to pretend it does not really matter or by presenting handy excuses.

Heather Knight blamed the conditions for the defeat against India. The captain has repeatedly brushed off criticism of the loss to West Indies by saying England “haven’t become a bad side because we played poorly for 10 overs in the World Cup” – an amazing sleight of hand that ignores they were the only 10 overs of the tournament when they were put under any pressure.

On Friday, Knight seemed equally blase about England’s third defeat in three Ashes matches, claiming they were “ahead for most of the chase”, while handily not mentioning the collapse of six for 22 that took place when England tried to match Australia’s acceleration.

View image in fullscreen England’s bowlers, including Sophie Ecclestone (pictured), have struggled to trouble the Australia batters. Photograph: Linda Higginson/AAP

England might respond that the real postmortems are happening inside the dressing room. But actions speak louder than words. What leadership or personnel changes have we seen in the past 18 months? None. England’s big, ballsy move after the World Cup was to drop Alice Capsey for the T20s against South Africa, only to recall her two weeks later after her replacement, Paige Scholfield, sustained an injury.

How about a change of approach with the bat? Nope. Even in the face of any evidence that it works, England maintain their absolute faith in unfettered aggression with the bat – the style of play the players have nicknamed “Jon-Ball”, after their coach, Jon Lewis.

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“We need to be braver with the bat,” was Knight’s verdict after the second ODI, apparently ignoring that Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone had thrown away what should have been a sedate, straightforward run-chase by playing unnecessarily reckless shots. Was she watching the same match as us? It sometimes feels like England are members of a cult, of which Lewis is the supreme, inerrant leader.

England have not yet lost the Ashes, but a defeat in any of the three T20s would seal their fate: just a week into the series, they have already arrived in the last-chance saloon. What should England’s response be? They have few options open to them from a personnel perspective: Freya Kemp, Dani Gibson and Linsey Smith are all joining the team for the T20s, but Kemp and Gibson are coming back from injury, while Smith (as a bowler) is hardly the answer to the batting woes.

Some have called for Amy Jones’s head, after she bungled the run-chase in Melbourne by forgetting to run off the final ball of the over, leaving Lauren Bell exposed. But who would take the gloves? Bess Heath is the official reserve, but was not trusted to do the job on England’s A tour of Ireland last year.

What England can do is take time for a bit of honest reflection. Because the worst part about them going 6-0 down is that none of it is surprising. England under Lewis bat recklessly. England under Lewis do not cope well with pressure. They can shrug their shoulders at that, as they have done for 18 months, and continue on regardless – or they can finally admit that Jon-Ball isn’t working. Then, and only then, will they be able do what Lanning did all those years ago: shed a few tears, and move on to the project of building something better.

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