Women’s Ashes 2025: England must look to Australia to learn how to build for success

The danger England must avoid is letting successful series at home to weaker opponents paper over the evident cracks.

Lemon has seen England struggle against Australia for many years: “You see players putting in performances of the type that we’ve seen, and there aren’t really repercussions. There isn’t that ruthlessness to demand the absolute best standard.”

Jones believes the inevitable review must involve voices external to the England and Wales Cricket Board: “I wouldn’t get it run by the ECB. The whole saying is ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’.

“I’m bringing in some different and innovative thoughts about successful high-performance cultures. And that might not all be sport, but got a collective of minds in the room to figure out what is going to work best for England.”

Lemon cites particular value in Australia’s settled domestic structure: “Across the state teams, there are another probably 10 or 11 players who could equally slot into this side and be just as good as anybody who’s out there.

“A lot of the players who are in the England side who’ve been picked year after year – there isn’t that pressure coming from outside that you have to keep performing, or you might find yourself being left out.”

Beyond structural change, the consistent message we’re hearing is there must be a culture of accountability, honesty and old-fashioned hard work.

As Jones says: “You do it so that you can raise your bet for 100 on the MCG and see your name go up on the board. You do it so that you’re a part of a legacy piece over and over again and you do it so you don’t lose your spot in the team.”

England need to see these brutal hours of hard work and embrace them.

As Australia celebrated with their friends and families, England players were watching too. They’d do well to put pictures of the scenes on their dressing room walls as a reminder of the disappointment, but also the rewards on offer for those who can reach them.