Mind games between England and Australia have always been a prominent feature leading up to the Ashes series. Both teams have a history of engaging in psychological tactics to gain a mental advantage over their opponents. The objective is to create doubt, distraction, and pressure in the minds of the opposition players.
Ahead of the forthcoming Women’s Ashes, English star Issy Wong has wasted no time in engaging in verbal jousting by asserting that the current Australian side is not as threatening as they were in previous years.
“It’s a really good time to actually go at them and say, ‘Right, you are the best team in history, but you’ve a couple of new faces in here and let’s see if you’re as good as you were five years ago’,” Wong told English media earlier this month.
In response to Wong’s remarks, Australian captain Meg Lanning has weighed in by acknowledging the strengths of the England team while firmly asserting that Australia remains the top-ranked team. It is worth noting that Australia have retained the Ashes since 2015 and will begin the upcoming multi-format series with a Test at Trent Bridge on June 22.
“I did see that article and comments. I think it’s great. It’s going to be a really exciting series. England are playing a little bit of a different style, I guess, they’re talking about the style that they’re playing, they’ve got a new coach as well and unearthed some new players within their squad, they’ve gone through a bit of change. So, we feel confident going over there,” said Lanning as quoted by Cricket.com.au.
Lanning reckoned there is a positive and motivated atmosphere within the team, and a strong desire to continue achieving success. The Aussie skipper believed her troops acknowledge the need to continually improve in order to stay ahead of other sides, as teams are actively pursuing them.
“There’s a really good vibe around the squad and certainly wanting to keep pushing to have more success. I haven’t sensed anything that shows that we’re sort of sitting and waiting. We know that we need to keep getting better to stay ahead of the game and teams are chasing us. So the Ashes would be a really good early look at what that might be,” added Lanning.
