Women's Ashes points system could be tweaked, feels England pacer Kate Cross

Manchester, July 20 (IANS) England pacer Kate Cross believes the points system for the Women's Ashes can be looked into after Australia retained the trophy despite winning fewer matches than the hosts' in the recently-concluded series.

The multi-format women's Ashes ended in an 8-8 draw, with Australia retaining the trophy due to being previous holders. Australia claimed four points for victory in the one-off Test match, while England won four out of six white-ball games worth two points each.

"I wonder if there will be conversations around the points for the Test match. With five days you are probably guaranteeing a result so I wonder if it is too heavily weighted. We have won more games but Australia have retained The Ashes. I don't know whether they need to look at it but I'm sure there will be conversations because five days makes a big difference," Kate told Sky Sports during day four of the Men's Ashes Test at Old Trafford.

The right-arm fast-bowler thinks England’s fightback to win both white-ball series 2-1 is a signal of the side on the verge of achieving better results in future.

"The bigger picture for us is thinking about what we have achieved this summer. Not many people come away with trophies against Australia. We feel we are on the cusp of something as a team," she said.

"I think having some young guns helped us beat them in close games. Alice Capsey does not care that it is Ellyse Perry is running in at her, she just wants to whack the ball for four. The youngsters have been a breath of fresh air and really helped us. That's what is most exciting. Credit to the ECB as the domestic structure is growing," she added.

Figures released by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) showed 110,000 fans attended the multi-format Women's Ashes series in total, with 5.3 million viewers watching the matches live on television.

Kate felt the nature of the series being thrilling also helped in large spectator numbers in stadiums and on television.

"There is a lot of pride for us. Not necessarily the on-field stuff but the off-field stuff of the crowds and getting people interested in women's cricket. We have achieved something. It doesn't feel that way because we haven't got the big trophy to prove it but there is a lot of excitement as to where we can go," the pacer said.

"The overriding feeling that has come out of the series is how much fun we had. Our mantra was to entertain and inspire people and it feels like it was a series that really grabbed the nation. Credit to both teams for being able to create such thrilling games. If we had gone 8-0 down you could have lost people but we kept it alive and people wanting to support us," she added.

England will be back in action when they play three ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka in late August and September.

"The crowds made such a difference, it was nothing like I had experienced in international cricket in England before. Hopefully it can continue," concluded Kate.

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