King casts the die and England drops the ball: How the Ashes were won

The tone for the 2025 Women's Ashes was set early in the series. Alana King, with her masterful right-arm leg-spin, ultimately earned Player of the Series, and her performance perfectly encapsulated that tone.

King's pivotal delivery exemplified her prowess: a ball that spun sharply, clipping the top of Danni Wyatt-Hodges' off-stump. After a closely contested first two ODIs against the home side, Australia, King's decisive ball marked the beginning of England's decline. Chasing 181, England collapsed from 3/73 to be all out for 159.

England never again came so close to a clear chance of victory. This was conceded by captain Heather Knight after a multi-format Ashes series sweep, the first in history. Reflecting on the tour, she stated that after a poor start to the first two games, while there were opportunities and competitiveness, it became incredibly difficult to turn things around after the losses.

One couldn't help but feel sympathy for Knight. While she failed to post significant scores, she often appeared isolated as her teammates fell around her. At Bellerive Oval, England's last six batters mustered just 22 runs. At the SCG in the first T20, these six dismissals cost her team 31 runs, and in the final limited-overs match of the series, the entire team was dismissed for just 90. Furthermore, she had to lament the impact of rain, with the team suffering a DLS defeat in Canberra.

However, Australia also suffered collective collapses throughout the limited-overs leg of the series. At Junction Oval, the home side crumbled from 3/146 to be all out for 180, while Ash Gardner's maiden international century rescued the team from a precarious 4/59 to post their highest limited-overs score of the season. The contrast between the collapses highlighted Australia's superior batting depth, and the home side's willingness to push the game at all costs. For Australia, each collapse felt like a necessary gamble for match momentum, while for England, each dismissal felt like a step closer to a frustrating defeat.

Australia once again showcased its all-round strength throughout the series. Aside from wicketkeepers Mooney and Healy, only Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield could be considered specialist batters, while Darcie Brown and Megan Schutt were the only two "pure" bowlers to feature. All-rounders have long played a bigger role in the women's game than in the men's, but rarely has a national side possessed such a wealth of versatile, highly skilled players.

Ellyse Perry has long been the benchmark for all-round cricketers. But the 34-year-old had a quiet series, passing 50 just once in seven innings, and her days as a regular bowler appear to be over, sending down just two overs across the seven matches. However, Australia has Annabel Sutherland, the perfect heir to Perry's throne. Sutherland took key wickets throughout the limited-overs matches, but it was her century at the MCG, which came after a string of underwhelming batting scores, that will be one of the lasting images of the series. If she hadn't already grasped the baton, Sutherland grabbed it with both hands in Melbourne.

At just 23, Sutherland already has three Test centuries and averages 83. England had high hopes for Sophie Ecclestone coming into the series. The left-arm finger spinner arrived in Australia as the world's top-ranked white-ball bowler, and she started strongly, taking 6 wickets for just 73 runs across the first two ODIs. But her influence waned from that point. Gardner said she specifically targeted her in the third ODI, eventually taking 102 runs from her, and Ecclestone's economy rate in that match was over 7.5. With the spinner unable to regain her footing in the T20s, England looked toothless without their premier bowler at her best.

Australia, on the other hand, bowled as a unit. Gardner, Schutt, Brown, Kim Garth, and Georgia Wareham all took turns playing key roles, allowing King to tell the story of the series. Her 23 Ashes wickets were driven by her perfect leg break in the second ODI, and they were fittingly bookended by another spinner's dream ball at the MCG. Like Wyatt-Hodges at Junction Oval, Sophia Dunkley was utterly bamboozled by a ball that drifted, pitched, and ripped.

It has been a long time since Australia has been led by a wrist spinner. But in King, the green and gold have a player, still under 30, whose unique and precious skills they can build a team around for years to come. The 2025 Women's Ashes could have been a turning point for international cricket. Just months earlier, Australia was knocked out of the T20 World Cup by South Africa. It was somewhat unexpected – Australia had cruised through the competition's preliminary stages. Australia looked meek in that semi-final, losing by eight wickets with over two overs to spare. It seems absurd to suggest a top-four World Cup finish was a disaster, but that is how dominant this Australian team has been.

The inevitable questions followed: had this Australian side lost its way? Had Australia's era of dominance finally come to an end? Just months later, we appear to have our answer. England arrived in Australia as the world's second-ranked team. They leave in the same position, at least in theory. Aside from the first two ODIs, the tourists barely threatened their opponents. On the field, it felt like they barely laid a glove on them. Two passages of play exemplified England's plight more than any others. The first came in the first T20 at the SCG. Australia was missing injured stars Healy and Gardner, and England needed a win to keep the series alive. But the tourists started disastrously. A string of leg-side wides, misfields, overthrows, and dropped catches helped Australia reach 0/38 after just three overs.

England's dismal tour reached its nadir at the MCG. No fewer than seven catches were put down on day two of the pink-ball Test, and Annabel Sutherland was dropped twice before she reached 35 on her way to 163. Even if the tourists had taken all their chances, it may still not have been enough to change the story of the series. But it represented the gap between the two sides clearly, almost clumsily. Rarely can a cricket series have threatened to end with such a brutal scoreline. While the story of the series may have been written early, it seemed impossible that England would not at least claim a point somewhere. But from the narrow margins of the first two ODIs to the heavens opening at Manuka Oval and the ultimate exclamation mark at the MCG, England came away with nothing. For Australia, however, it was a triumph worthy of champions.

With the 16-0 scoreline confirmed, Healy simply hoped the significance of her side's achievement would not be lost on anyone. "I've been a part of some tough Ashes series and I never thought either side would win 16-0 at any point," Healy said. "For me to look back on that, I think it's a really special moment for our group. I hope everyone appreciates what's just happened, because it's pretty amazing."