Australia v England: Women’s Ashes first cricket T20 international

Key events

This was a thoughtful piece from Raf earlier this week – Jon-ball isn’t working.

England XI

England: Maia Bouchier, Danielle Wyatt-Hodge, Sophia Dunkley, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (c), Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Bell.

Australia XI

Australia: Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (wk), Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath (c), Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt

Ash Gardner calf strain

Tahlia McGrath is the stand-in for Healy and very chirpy she is too, despite also losing Ash Gardner with a calf strain. Healy and Gardner are replaced by Georgia Voll and Grace Harris.

England win the toss and will bowl!

Knight looks briskly confident. “A change of format suits us really nicely,” she says, “into a format that we love playing and are really good at.” “There are three changes for England as Sarah Glenn, Freya Kemp and Sophia Dunkley come in.

Alyssa Healy injury

Healy will not play today, with soreness in the same foot as her plantar fascia injury. She’s currently wearing a boot and will be seen by specialists over the next couple of days.

Hello! Already the ODIs are over, already England are six points down. Over there on the river are the Ashes, sailing away, with a good wind behind them, almost out of reach. We are a week into England’s tour of Australia and they’ve been thoroughly outclassed – tactically, with the bat and in the field. Australia have been….Australia.

But! Hope (just about) survives as we march into the T20 part of the series. England are pretty good at the shortest form and the last time Australia played one, they lost to South Africa in the World Cup semi-final against South Africa.

Can England refind their mojo? Will new blood make any difference. Will Australia retain the Ashes today? Play starts at 8.15GMT, there is plenty of space here on the sofa.