Heather Knight confident England can hit big to outsmart Australia in World Cup

It is disrespectful to New Zealand, India and maybe South Africa to talk about this match as the dress rehearsal for the Women’s World Cup final but it is hard to dispute England v Australia is a fixture that, historically, has provided the best advert for women’s cricket.

The ODI statistics fall heavily in Australia’s favour, with England victorious in only 20 of the 71 played. In the nine ODIs since the 2013 World Cup, it is 5-4 to Australia. As ever, regardless of format or gender, nothing gives the English a better excuse for self-reflection than an Ashes duel.

It was in the 2016 World T20 semi-final that these sides last met – a seminal moment in English women’s cricket. Chasing just 133 for victory, they fluffed a strong start (89 for one in the 14th over) to fall five runs short, a mixture of poor fitness and stage fright leading to questionable decision-making and slack game management. It prompted the coach, Mark Robinson, to berate the physical condition of the team in the post-match press conference.

“We couldn’t do some of the basics – the non-skill things – in that semi-final,” remembers Robinson, who was four months into his role at the time. “That’s just non-negotiable. An England coach should never have to talk about fitness.”

Changes in standards and personnel followed, and the results were almost instantaneous. Take, for example, Tammy Beaumont’s 168 at Taunton against Pakistan last year. A GPS monitor recorded she covered 19km during her innings, including 1,400m of high-intensity running (more than 18kph). She was gobsmacked when she saw the figures. This England side have a greater understanding of the work they need to put in to excel at the game’s highest level.

“I think we function as a team a lot better,” said Heather Knight, whose captaincy arose from among last year’s introspection. “I think we are smarter as individuals. We don’t rely on a few players. We have a lot more leaders on the pitch and people are taking a lot more responsibility. You’ve seen four of the top five already get hundreds. People are really putting their hands up. We want to do that in the big games as well.”

Australia arrive, as ever, comfortable in their own skin. Four wins from four, against West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Pakistan, have been ticked off with ease and, while they are keen to stress England will not be treated any differently, they have been keeping tabs on their opponents’ exploits with the bat. England scored 377 for seven against Pakistan and 375 against South Africa, with four players – Nat Sciver, Knight, Beaumont and Sarah Taylor – registering hundreds.

“They’re hitting a few more runs,” said the Australia seamer Megan Schutt. “Obviously for me, as a bowler, that is something I have to look at and go through their vision and really work out the areas that I want to be hitting. They look like their team dynamic is really good; they seem to have a good balance. I think it should be a great contest.”

Australia’s biggest concern going into Sunday’s match was the fitness of Meg Lanning, who missed their win over Pakistan with a chronic shoulder problem. She was given a couple of days off training as part of hers and the team’s management of it but Australia are keen to downplay the severity of the injury. The bowling coach Joe Dawes, when asked how the shoulder was, took the sarcastic route: “It’s still attached, last time I looked.” Barring any overnight complications for Lanning, she is expected to play.