Australia and England prepare for crucial first ODI of 2025 Women's Ashes

Alyssa Healy will warn the Australian team to take the initiative in the Ashes series, as early losses could be difficult to recover from in such a packed schedule. Australia, eager to defend the Ashes for the sixth consecutive time, will appear with a clear advantage in the first ODI match held at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.

This summer marks the eighth time the Ashes will be contested in a multi-format series, including three ODIs, three T20s, and a Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. However, this year’s schedule is unprecedentedly chaotic. To fit the series between the end of the men's summer and the start of the Indian WPL league, 10 days of cricket need to be played within 22 days.

With travel between each match, the two teams will only have three training opportunities between the six white-ball games, followed by a four-day gap before the Test match. This makes Sunday’s opener particularly important, as both sides believe it will be hard to turn things around if momentum is lost early in the series. "England are an emotional team, and if you let them get ahead, they can really stay ahead," Healy said. "For us, we want to get on top (on Sunday) and then say 'good luck, come and catch us'."

Healy added: “You want to come out and get those first couple of points, and then you can settle in. If we can control our emotions, particularly physically, we can go a long way to winning games.” England captain Heather Knight also believes Sunday’s match is crucial for the same reason. “If you lose momentum early, it's hard to get it back,” Knight said. “But we lost the Test and the first T20 in the last Ashes series (2023), and we were still able to turn it around [to draw on points].”

Knight continued: “The tightness of the games might make things tough. But we're mentally prepared, and even if we have a bad start, we know that the team has the ability and skills to try to turn things around.” Another consideration for both sides will be player workloads. Australia has the advantage of playing at home and easily accessing replacement players, but Healy stated that they might rotate bowlers at times. England has brought an expanded 19-player squad for the series, and coach Jon Lewis had expressed concerns about rotating players even before arrival.

Veteran bowler Kate Cross is already a fitness concern due to back pain, which may affect any plans to rotate bowlers. "It's going to be tough, particularly for the fast bowlers, it's so condensed and there's the travel," Knight said. "You want to put out your best team as much as possible, but we have to be mindful of the nature of the tour. It’s the same for both sides, but I think we need to be smart with our rotations."