England have lost every match of the ongoing series ahead of the one-off Test match in Melbourne, their last chance to get points on the board in the multi-format series. Ahead of the final T20I, England head coach Jon Lewis cited cultural differences as one of the reasons behind the gap between the sides, stating that Australia’s sporting culture means they have a far bigger talent pool than England.

Speaking to the Wisden Women’s Cricket Weekly podcast, Winfield-Hill pointed to the amount of domestic cricket each set of international play as another reason for the different performances. “They [England players] need to play more games that are out of the spotlight, for a start,” Winfield-Hill said. “You look at someone like Freya Kemp or Maia Bouchier or Alice Capsey, I could probably list on one hand – I know Kemp is different for injury reasons – how many games of domestic cricket they’ve played in the last two years, and it won’t be very many.

“Out of the spotlight, where are you learning your trade of how to score runs? It’s not about ball striking, it’s not about technique it’s about learning how to score runs and to problem solve, and to find method. For me, it’s finding the layers below the buzz words.”

England players’ participation in domestic cricket outside of The Hundred was been limited last year by the timing of international series. Their final series of the winter ended in New Zealand in April, while their first series of the summer against Pakistan began in mid-May. The domestic cricket available in between the two was the first half of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, which saw six rounds in late April and early May.

However, most England players did not feature in the competition. Alice Capsey hasn’t played any domestic cricket outside of The Hundred since 2023, when she played three Charlotte Edwards Cup games and three Rachael Heyhoe Flint games across the season. Having broken into the England T20I side in New Zealand last year, Maia Bouchier played five Charlotte Edwards Cup games in 2024, and did not feature for Southern Vipers in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

“More Australians play in the franchise stuff, and when they don’t they play domestic cricket, we don’t,” said Winfield-Hill, who plays for Queensland in the WNCL. “It’s not purely that, it’s also the ability to handle pressure and there’s no bigger pressure than an Ashes series. I’ve been there myself and it’s not easy and it just keeps coming, it’s relentless. Particularly in Australia, it’s like you’re down on the canvas and you’re just taking blow after blow. So there’s probably a little bit of handling pressure and the mental side of it.”

The women’s domestic structure in England and Wales will enter the first year of its new structure this summer, with professional sides now in the hands of counties. There will also be new competitions, with the Women’s T20 Blast and One Day Cup created to mirror the men’s competitions. However, England player availability for those competitions will be limited by clashes with white-ball series’ against West Indies and India.

Speaking in November, ECB director of the women’s professional game, Beth Barrett-Wild addressed the scheduling conflict. ““We have tried to look at the women’s domestic schedule and the England Women’s schedule to make sure there are those opportunities,” she said.

England players are expected to be available for the early weeks of the One Day Cup and T20 Blast Finals Day as a minimum.

“I don’t think there’s a huge difference in standard,” Winfield-Hill said of the difference between domestic competitions in Australia and England. “Like anything, when international players play the standard increases, when they’re not playing the standards decrease. That’s the same in both countries. But I don’t think there’s a significant difference now in both domestic games.

“I’ll span that even to the Big Bash and The Hundred. I think Lottie [Charlotte Edwards] made a good point, if you look at The Hundred, a lot of Aussies come over… and they find it difficult. Some Aussies come over and don’t have the best time, it is tough, it’s a good competition… You look at some of the overseas who come over, some players domestically who do really well – Courtney Webb who did well and came over to Warwickshire from South Australia, did okay but didn’t light the world up. Erin Burns same thing and Erin Burns has played for Australia. Pound for pound it’s the same.”

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