Unchanged England Ready For 'Intense' Summer Ahead

Unchanged England Ready For 'Intense' Summer Ahead

England will be hoping for more scenes like this later this summer.

©REUTERS/Philip Brown (BRITAIN SPORT CRICKET) Picture Supplied by Action Images

England Women have named an unchanged squad as they begin preparations for matches against Australia, which coach Mark Lane believes will provide an 'intense' summer of cricket.

The two sides meet for a Twenty20 International at Derby on Thursday, five One Day Internationals and then the Ashes Test which begins on 10th July at New Road, Worcester.

ECB Head Of Women's Cricket Clare Connor explained that the same set of players that won the ICC World Twenty20 at Lord's would take on Australia again for the first encounters of the summer.

"In winning the ICC Women's World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 in the space of three months, this England team have shown that they are a world-class side, so the squad to face Australia in June and July is unsurprisingly largely unchanged," she said. "Anya Shrubsole continues to undergo rehab for her back injury so Danielle Hazell retains her place in the squad.

"We look forward to a highly competitive series between England and Australia with the first three matches live on Sky on 26th, 29th and 30th June.

"We are determined to maximise those opportunities both in terms of increasing participation for our sport and in terms of raising the profile of our world class England team."

Coach Mark Lane added: "The experience of winning a World Cup and the inaugural World Twenty20 has been sensational. What would top it off would be retaining the coveted Ashes.

"Australia has always been a fierce rival and this was proved in the recent semi-final of the Twenty20 where the two teams fought tooth and nail in a high-scoring, entertaining game of cricket. We are expecting an intense summer of cricket."

	25 Jun 2009	Only Twenty20		England Women v Australia Women	County Ground, Derby	T20
	29 Jun 2009	1st ODI		England Women v Australia Women	The Ford County Ground, Chelmsford	ODI
	30 Jun 2009	2nd ODI		England Women v Australia Women	The Ford County Ground, Chelmsford	ODI
	03 Jul 2009	3rd ODI		England Women v Australia Women	Stratford-upon-Avon Cricket Club Ground	ODI
	05 Jul 2009	4th ODI		England Women v Australia Women	Sir Paul Getty's Ground, Wormsley	ODI
	07 Jul 2009	5th ODI		England Women v Australia Women	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood	ODI
	10 Jul 2009	Only Test		England Women v Australia Women	County Ground, New Road, Worcester	Test

© Cricket World 2009

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