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

Key events

The weather forecast isn’t great for the second half of the game, which is another reason for England to bowl first. Tahlia McGrath says she was 50/50 all day about what to do at the toss.

Team news

Both teams are unchanged. Heather Graham has been added to Australia’s T20 squad as cover for the injured Ash Gardner and Alyssa Healy.

Australia Mooney (wk), Voll, Litchfield, Perry, Sutherland, McGrath (c), Harris, Wareham, King, Garth, Schutt.

England Bouchier, Wyatt-Hodge, Dunkley, Sciver-Brunt, Knight (c), Jones (wk), Kemp, Dean, Ecclestone, Glenn, Bell.

England win the toss and bowl

That means they’ll be chasing for the fourth game in a row.

Preamble

Good evening, good morning, good afternoon. When the Women’s Ashes schedule was announced there was understandable criticism that it was far too short, with the whole thing squashed into 24 days between 11 January and 2 February. Now it’s in danger of outstaying its welcome. Australia retained the Ashes after 10 of those 24 days, and the rest of the series – containing the last two T20s and the Test in Melbourne – could be one big anti-climax.

Still, this is the Ashes, and there’s always something to play for. Marsellus Wallace can say what he likes about pride but he clearly wasn’t a cricket fan. A number of the England players, and the coach Jon Lewis, are fighting for their futures. Australia’s future looks almost as bright as their coruscating recent past. The present looks pretty good too. The Class of 25 have the chance to achieve something extraordinary: the first whitewash in Women’s Ashes history.

Tonight’s match starts at 7.15pm AEDT, 8.15am GMT.