Brunt certain Ashes success can spark fire in the next generation

Alastair Cook’s side were not this summer’s only Ashes stars; the women’s team also triumphed. Nick Westby reports.
England women's team celebrate with the Ashes trophyEngland women's team celebrate with the Ashes trophy
England women's team celebrate with the Ashes trophy

Yorkshire Ashes winner Katherine Brunt believes women’s cricket is as strong as it has ever been and that England are well equipped to defend their version of the biggest duel in cricket this winter.

The 28-year-old bowler from Barnsley helped England defeat Australia over a seven-match Ashes series last month and heads into her 10th year in international cricket targeting world domination.

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England will put their Ashes honours on the line in Australia in January before heading to Bangladesh for the ICC World Twenty20 in March.

Brunt’s England beat Australia five times out of seven matches in August despite drawing the only Test match and then losing the first of three one-day internationals.

The Ashes were regained in the second T20 at the Rose Bowl and sealed emphatically in the final rubber at Chester-le-Street.

Brunt, who has been an integral part of England’s pace attack for nearly a decade, believes the constant growth of women’s cricket is yielding dividends in the number of players that are pushing seasoned campaigners like herself.

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“With the boys leading the way winning their Ashes we were inspired to do the same thing,” said Brunt, who took nine wickets during the series.

“Every year women’s cricket gets better and that’s just what we want, because we certainly don’t want to be going backwards.

“We want to inspire young girls to play cricket and find something to do other than sitting on a park bench.”

What made the success sweeter this summer was that it was achieved without Claire Taylor, who for so long was the inspirational figure of the women’s team.

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“Losing Claire was a huge loss for us because she was the best in the world,” said Brunt, who first won the Ashes in 2005.

“But I think it’s fair to say Sarah Taylor has filled those shoes pretty well. The youngsters are now coming through at a younger age so our 20- and 21-year-olds are actually very experienced.

“There are a lot of young girls who are in the county set-up who are now hungry for places in the England set-up.

“All of us are being pushed but we have established a really strong unit and that can only bode well for the Ashes in January and the World Cup in March.”

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The women’s Ashes proved a real success this summer, with the England and Wales Cricket Board running some matches as part of a package with the men’s games.

“The double headers are excellent,” added Brunt, who has represented England 123 times.

“It’s great exposure for us and it’s also a chance for people who have tickets to watch the men to actually watch us live.

“A game of cricket is much better watched live. In real time it looks a thousand times better.

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“If you’re not a fan of women’s cricket, come and watch us live and you’ll get a different opinion.

“It’s nice for us to play in front of the boys’ crowds of 20,000 because we end up with that.

“But even for our first T20 at Chelmsford in Essex we sold out the ground on our own, which is the first time we’ve ever done that.”

Cricket’s decision-makers might finally have found the perfect way to decide the women’s Ashes series.

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In the past the format has been tinkered with, Australia winning the famous prize in a one-off Test match Down Under last winter.

But for the return in four months, this summer’s seven-match format of a Test, three ODIs and three T20s will be used.

Brunt, who made her Test debut in 2004 and was England’s player of the year two years later and again in 2010, is a lover of the traditional version of the game, and has long been an advocate of deciding a series as important as the Ashes in the Test environment.

However, having revelled in a victorious summer, and as her body gets older, she is starting to appreciate the benefits of limited-overs cricket.

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The former Penistone Grammar School pupil said: “I’m an old school girl, I love Test cricket. I really think it’s a test of skill, physically and mentally, the challenge to be the best over hours and days.

“That’s something I really love, but unfortunately we don’t play it that often.

“I’m getting into the T20 format now – because you can put your feet up after four overs.

“But we’ve really enjoyed the format and we feel it’s worked out well.

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“The hardest thing has been adapting to the change of formats, like going from Test cricket into one-day into Twenty20.

“It’s been quite hard to stay with the pace of the game, but it’s kept the Ashes alive.

“The boys have their five-Test series which keeps the atmosphere electric for months, whereas ours is just one Test, but we’ve managed to keep it exciting for a whole month.

“Everything was on the line and it’s a real test of everyone’s skill over all three formats.”