by Durhamfootman » Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:22 am
I watched the first half and went to bed once i realised the second half was not going to improve which took about 5 mins.
England were dreadful.... probably the worst half of football they've played under Weigman. Yes the conditions were terrible, it was hammering down for the entire half, but they didn't adapt to them to all. Pretty much every long pass played along the ground, including the pass between defenders and back to Earps, ended up short in the damp and Australia were very much alive to that, but England kept on doing it. They got away with it 2 or 3 times early in the match but didn't learn the lesson and eventually an attempted back header under pressure to Earps stuck on the wet grass and Kerr nipped in and took her goal well.
It was a dismal, dismal performance. The sort of thing that happens at the end of the season. The players looked tired, devoid of ideas, flat.
The saving grace is that eventually by the law of averages England had to lose a match. Better that it came in a friendly (although it's iritating that it had to be Australia) than in a round of 16 match in the WC.
I still think Bright is a huge miss, because England's defending has been decidedly shaky in these last two matches. Sarina has been experimenting with centre back pairings and nothing has seemed to gel. With the exception of Mead, nothing further up the pitch has changed much. Just a flat, tired, uninspired performance
2024 Big Bash League FL
2023 County Championship D1 FL
2023 WI-SA combined FL
2023 Big Bash League FL
2022 County Championship D1 FL
2022 T20 Blast FL
2022 Ashes FL
2021 All Year Fantasy Competition
2021 ICC T20 World Cup FL
2021 Big Bash League FL
2020 SA-England combined FL
2020 Caribbean Premier League FL
2019 NZ-England test FL
2019 WI-India combined FL
2019 The Open Golf FL
2019 French Open Tennis FL
2019 Sheffield Shield FL
2019 Players Championship Golf FL
2019 Women's National Cricket League FL
2019 Women's Big Bash League FL
2018 All Year Fantasy Competition
2017 The Open Golf FL
2016 Australia-South Africa test FL
2016 County Championship D1 FL
2016 Indian Premier League FL
2015 County Fantasy Manager
2015 Big Bash League FL
2014 WI-England test and ODI FL
2014 County Championship D2 FL
2013 County Championship D2 FL
2012 Twenty20 Cup FL