'Hopefully we have turned a corner' – Kate Cross backs England players to bounce back

England won just one match in the multi-format series, with the visiting Australians dominant on their way to a 12-4 scoreline. The players now return to the WCSL, their premier domestic T20 competition, with a chance to regain form and confidence.

"We felt like we let ourselves down in all facets of the game," Kate Cross, their pace bower, told the BBClooking back on the Ashes. "We've had a lot of tough conversations in the last couple of weeks and we've all had a look at ourselves and we know we have to improve and set our standards higher to be able to beat those teams.

"In a way that's exciting, and hopefully we have turned a corner now. There's more to come."

Cross will be leading Lancashire Thunder in the WCSL this season, for her first taste of captaincy. She is also hoping to make a case for herself ahead of next year's ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

The 27-year-old, who was the first woman in the Lancashire Academy, has built a reputation in red-ball cricket: In her first two Tests, she had match hauls of six wickets. But she's never featured in a T20 World Cup. In fact, when she turned out for England against India in Guwahati earlier this year, it was her first T20 International in four years. In the final match of that series, she defended two runs in the final over, picking up two wickets to finish with 2/18 and completing a series sweep.

She has kept her place in the T20I squad since then and knows the T20 competition offers an excellent chance to further consolidate her spot in the national setup ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia next year.

“We’ve seen the likes of Linsey Smith and Kirstie Gordon getting those opportunities through this competition,” she told the club website, referring to the England youngsters whose performances last year earned them call-ups for the ICC Women's World T20 2018 in the West Indies. “The [WCSL] is definitely a great foundation for selection purposes.”