Women’s Ashes 2025: Australia not ‘weakened’ by World Cup failure, says England’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge
England batsman Danny Wyatt-Hodge says Australia will not be weakened in the Women’s Ashes by failing to defend their 20-over World Cup title.
Alyssa Healy, the reigning white-ball World Cup, Women’s Ashes and Commonwealth Games champions, was knocked out by South Africa in the semi-finals in October.
The multi-format Women’s Ashes tournament will begin on Saturday, January 11 (23:30 GMT) with the first of three one-day internationals, followed by three T20 matches and four day’s test match.
England last won the series in 2014, with Australia regaining the title in 2015 and have defended the title since.
In 2023, Australia were held to an 8-8 draw despite hosts England winning both white-ball series.
Asked whether Australia would be weakened by their failure to defend their T20 title, Wyatt Hodge said: “No, not at all. They have a good team.
“Anyone on their team can perform. Anyone on their roster can win games.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge for us but we really can’t wait.
“We’ve played a lot of games against Australia and we know what everyone is doing and they know us well, so it’s going to be a very exciting series.”
In December, Australia won one-day series against India and T20 World Cup winners New Zealand.
Captain Healy has returned from injury to be part of the Ashes white-ball series and the Test squad has yet to be announced, although Sophie Molineux has missed the game after undergoing knee surgery.
