Spirited England make Edwards proud

Isa Guha traps Shelley Nitschke lbw on a day that ended England's Ashes reign but nonetheless gave Charlotte Edwards much pride

England women’s captain Charlotte Edwards took heart from the character shown by her side as she reflected on a “gutting” Ashes defeat in Australia.

The hosts triumphed by seven wickets at the Bankstown Oval in Sydney after a largely trouble-free pursuit of 198 to win was completed on the fourth evening.

England, who needed only a draw to retain the Ashes, managed just two wickets on the final day, but Edwards spared the bowlers any blame.

She was instead left to rue batting collapse yesterday that saw them bowled out for 149, thanks in no small part to Rene Farrell’s hat-trick.

“Obviously I’m absolutely gutted to hand over the Ashes,” Edwards said. “Our bowlers did a fantastic job but unfortunately we didn’t put enough runs on the board. We would have liked to make it a bigger chase.”

While England were forced to hand over the Ashes for the first time since their triumph on home soil in 2005, Edwards insists she saw many positive signs in the performance of a youthful side missing key players Claire Taylor, Sarah Taylor and Beth Morgan.

The solitary Ashes Test saw Heather Knight, Danielle Hazell and Lauren Griffiths make their Test debuts for England, and Edwards was keen to point out the fortitude shown in winning the Twenty20 series 4-1 after they began the tour with defeat in the one-day series.

“I’m proud of how the team have backed each other and really fought to the end,” Edwards added. “We’ve had a relatively inexperienced side out here and for many of them this was their first Test match.

“We have had a few setbacks early on this tour but the team have really come together and players have stood up to the mark. We showed this in the Twenty20 series.”

Mark Lane struck a similar tone in his post-tour analysis, while singling out seam bowlers on both sides for particular praise.

“We are bitterly disappointed to lose the Ashes Test, but the character and commitment from the players has been fantastic,” he said.

Jenny Gunn's 18 overs in the fourth innings cost just 20 runs. She went wicketless but earned high praise from coach Mark Lane

“We played positively and Jenny Gunn bowled well all day today.

"There was an exceptional piece of medium pace swing bowling from Rene Farrell yesterday that reduced our opportunity to get runs on the board.

“We would have liked to make it a longer chase for Australia going into the final day, but the whole team showed a lot of character by taking the game into the last session.

“The Twenty20 series was a key element of the tour for us and I’m very pleased we have come out of that 4-1 up. We wanted to play our brand of cricket and we did that.

“The young players who have come out here I’m sure will have learnt a lot in the tough conditions, playing Australia in Australia.”