Melbourne, January 29: Ahead of the one-off women's Ashes Test against Australia, England skipper Heather Knight said that the team is disappointed their shambolic results so far and views the Test as an opportunity to showcase what they are as a team and people, ESPNCricinfo reported.
The one-off women's Ashes Test will take place at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday and will be a pink-ball affair. It will be the first women's Test in 76 years at the venue.
England is heading into the match with a prospect of being whitewashed in the series, with Australia walking away with all 16 points, having lost all their white-ball fixtures so far, three T20Is and ODIs each. This is highly in contrast with an eight-all draw England achieved at home 18 months back, with the one-off Test being the point of difference where they had fallen short. They had won both white-ball series, having played some exceptional cricket.
Knight, whose position as captain (along with head coach Jon Lewis) has come under heavy scrutiny, has voiced out her support for an ambition to boost women's Tests by staging a Test at the iconic MCG, which is capable of drawing around 80,000-1,00,000 people.
Speaking ahead of the match as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Knight said that the chance to play a Test at MCG is "just iconic".
"We would much rather do that and then have the ambition in the future to continue to grow the crowds and bring people in," said Knight.
"Everyone is really disappointed with how we have performed so far. We feel like we have not played our best cricket at all as a side. We have not shown what we are about and the next four days is a chance to do that, for us to show exactly who we are as cricketers and who we are as people," she added.
The Test match has become a vital part of determining the series ever since it became a multi-format affair back in 2013. Even Knight recognises the importance of the fixture, by the "noise" it has generated and wants her team to have some success under their belt once and for all.
Knight herself wants to prove herself, having managed just 101 runs in three T20Is and a sub-par 71 runs in three ODIs, with best scores of 43* and 39 respectively across both series.
"The way we have performed and the results in this series, I think you come to expect that extra scrutiny and pressure. There is no doubt that there has been a lot of noise.
"Individuals will probably deal with it differently. Some will probably try to ignore it and do everything they can to try and turn things around. Some will use it as motivation. The way the results have gone, there is bound to be some criticism and that is completely fair. It is our job to try and turn things around and try and have some success this week."
"I am probably someone that is at my best when I have got a bit of a point to prove and I certainly do have it this week, so hopefully I can put in a really good performance for the side over the next four days," she concluded.
England Test squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.
