The Women's ODI World Cup gets underway, Chris Woakes calls time on his international career and Australia starts its T20 series over New Zealand with a win, but have we seen the last of Glenn Maxwell?

The Women's ODI World Cup is underway with Australia defeating New Zealand in their first game of the tournament. Take a look at how the Aussies and the English and shaping up for the tournament.

Australia's men start their T20 series against New Zealand with a win. But does a broken arm sustained during training in the lead up the series mean we've seen the last of Glenn Maxwell.

Chris Woakes has called time on his international career after being left out of England's Ashes squad.

Plus the English Lions pick their squad for a winter tour of Australia, the County Championship comes to an end and I point out why England great Geoffrey Boycott is wrong for saying "I don't think the Aussies are that great".

Thank you for listening! Be sure to follow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and/or Instagram.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to another edition of the Ashes to Ashes podcast where we delve into everything related to the Australian and England cricket teams, both men's and women's, as they gear up for another Ashes campaign, and they're always gearing up for an Ashes campaign. I'm your host, NewsQuest journalist and avid cricket fan, Patrick Glover, and we've got plenty to get through again on today's episode. We're going to start by taking a look at the women's one-day World Cup, which is now underway over in India. We're going to have a look at Australia's T20 series against New Zealand, which also got underway the other day. Chris Wokes announced his retirement from international cricket this week, so we're going to take a look at his career, that and plenty more on today's episode. We're going to kick things off today with the Women's One Day World Cup, which got underway the other day. Australia kickstarted their World Cup campaign with a solid victory over New Zealand, winning by 89 runs. Australia batted first, making 326 from 49.3 overs, led by Ash Gardner, who made 115 from 83 deliveries. Phoebe Litchfield also chipping in with 45 from 31 at the top of the order. For the Kiwis, it was Jess Kerr and Leah Tahu who took three wickets each. In reply, New Zealand could only manage 237 being bowled out in the 43rd over. That was despite a top century by Sophie Devine scoring 112 from as many deliveries. Well for the Aussies, it was Sophie Molyneux, who in her first international game since December 2024 took three wickets along with Annabelle Sutherland. So a really good start to the tournament for the Aussie women there. And Australia are once again probably going to be the team to beat in this tournament. They have been in women's cricket for as long as I can remember, and once again they've gone in with such a strong squad. You look at the squad that they've got. So you've got Healy, McGrath, Darcy Brown, Ash Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molyneux, Beth Mooney, Elise Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabelle Sutherland, Georgia Vole, and Georgia Wareham. They're all superstars in their own rights. And you just need to look at that first game and the sides that the Aussies went in with. They left Megan Schut out, who is arguably one of their best bowlers of all time and wasn't able to get a go in that that opening team in that opening game. So just depth everywhere. They've got a fantastic bowling lineup with plenty of different options, both spin and pace. You look at the the spinners which they're going to use to tackle these Indian conditions. You've got Ilana King who was fantastic in the in the women's ashes last summer over in Australia. Ash Gardner, who is amazing with both bat and ball. Sophie Molyneux, as I mentioned, is back into the team now after an injury layoff. And you've got George Awareham as well waiting in the wings that can come in and do a job if need be. Most of those players as well can do a job with the bat. You look at Ash Gardner, made a hundred in that first that first innings and is a genuine all-rounder in that side. Sophie Molyneux as well. Tali McGraw, who who gets overlooked a lot when you you look at some of the other superstars that are in that lineup, but it's such a solid, such a consistent batting lineup. Once again, they're going to be the team to beat. Obviously, India are going to prove a real challenge over in home conditions, but uh Australia have just come off a really good series win over India in India in the lead up to this World Cup, winning that series 2-1. Um, and that was including a massive third match, which saw nearly 800 runs scored uh in total. So that was a fantastic series in itself and a really good warm-up for Australia in the lead up to the World Cup. As for England, they kick start their World Cup campaign on Friday against South Africa. They've had a decent lead up to the World Cup as well themselves. They, although they had a slightly disappointing home series against India, they did manage to beat the Aussies in a warm-up match prior to the tournament starting, so they'll go in full of confidence. Their squad consists of Nat Siva Brunt, who captained the team. They've got M. Arlett, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Eccleston, Lauren Fila, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Emma Lamb, Lindsay Smith, and Danny White Hodge. So a decent squad there. You look at their bowling and they've got some fantastic spin options led by arguably one of the best spinners in the world at the moment in Sophie Eccleston. She'll be accompanied by Sarah Glenn, who is fresh off of five for against Australia in that warm-up match that I mentioned before. And you've got Alice Capsey as well, who can who can some contribute some handy off spin and can do a job with a bat as well. On top of those spin options, you've got Lauren Bell as well, who will lead the pace battery. With a bat, England have got a really solid top order. You look at the likes of Beaumont, Jones, Lamb, Siva Brunt, and Dunkley, who have have all worked really well together in the in recent times, since new coach Charlotte Edwards has come in and taken over. All scored runs at different points in time and different games. But look, that looks like a really strong top order. Out of that top order, Skipper Nat Siva Brunt's going to be crucial for the English side, and and England are going to be hoping that she can lead the way from the front with both bat and ball in this World Cup. But I think two players to watch this tournament for England are going to be Sophia Dunkley and Sarah Glenn. Dunkley really impressed me during the Ashes campaign down under last summer where the rest of her teammates were quite disappointing. She came in for the limited overs games and did a fantastic job at the top of the order there. Well, Sarah Glenn has really found some form of late mate. She's forced her way into the English side, and you just need to look at the Fifer that she took against Australia in the warm-up game. So she's building nicely, and the turning Indian conditions are really going to suit her bowling as well. So the Women's World Cup is currently underway and will run until November the second. The way it works is all teams will play each other once, then the top four teams will play off in two semifinals, with the winner of both of those games playing off in the final, which, as I say, is on November the second. The Aussie men's side has kicked off their T20 series versus New Zealand with a comfortable six-wicket win. Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first again, just for something different under the reign of Mitch Marsh. New Zealand batter first, making six for 181, led by Tim Robinson, who scored his maiden international century, finishing unbeaten on 106. With the bowl for the Aussies, Josh Hazelwood led the way with figures of one for 23 from his four-wall. Ben Dwarchus also chipped in with two wickets. In reply, Australia made fairly light work of a New Zealand's total, led by the skipper Mitch Marsh at the top of the order, who made 85 from 43 deliveries, and Travis Head once again in a blistering form with 31 from 18. So this win sees Australia carry on its fantastic T20 form. Since last year's World Cup, they've won 15 out of 17 T20 internationals. So good to see them in some form leading up to next year's World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Some some notes to take away from that game. Really good to see Matt Short back in the side after a little bit of a layoff from injury. Unfortunately, on the injury front, Glenn Maxwell broke his arm during training in the lead up to that first game and has been forced to withdraw from that series. Could this be the last time that we see Maxi playing for Australia? He's already retired from one day as an focus on international and franchise T20 cricket. But you look at some of the guys that are coming through the ranks at the moment. So you've got the likes of Matt Short, Mitch Owen as well, who was in that side against to play New Zealand and has been in fantastic form of late earning his spot on a call up for Australia. You've got the likes of Will Sutherland, Jack Edwards, and Liam Scott who are all sort of on the fringes there and pushing for a spot in that Australian side. Marcus Stoynes is an interesting one. He's been called back into the squad for this New Zealand series and played in that first game. But I'd like to see Australia move away from these. I say older, they're they're sort of mid-30s, but I'd like to see them move away from the Stoyneses and the Maxwells, who have had their time to look at these guys. Liam Scott, I would love to see in Australian colours. He had a breakout year last year for South Australia. He won the the one-day player of the series in the Dean Jones Cup. He won the Neil Danzi medal, which is the best and fairest of South Australia as well. He's been he's played a few games for Australia A now since that breakout summer last year. He made 81 uh in the first four-day match over in India against India A and also took a wicket as well and bowled really economically from his 14 overs. On top of that, he's made a 90 and a 50 odd uh in a few in the few times that he butted against Sri Lanka Ray over the winter as well in in that series in the top end. He's played a role for the strikers when he was called up last season. So I think he's definitely one I would like to see get a crack over the likes of your Maxwell's and your Stoynesses. They've they've had a go, they've been fantastic servants of of Australian cricket, but I'd just like to see maybe Australia look to the future and give these guys a go for their for their form. Maxie and Stoyn I don't know, can be very hit and miss. They look when they come off, they are amazing, and there's no better player in the short formats than those guys. But someone like Stoynis, especially, is just too hit and miss. He he'll have great games and then he'll go missing for another five, six, seven, eight games, and then he will have another really good game and and then go missing again. Whereas these these younger guys come in there hungry and and they want to earn their spot, they want to keep their spot in that Australian side, which makes them push themselves and play at a better level. So I'd like to see guys like that get a game ahead of the likes of Stoynus and Maxie. Another Aussie player who was forced to withdraw from that New Zealand tour was Josh Inglis. He suffered a calf injury before the tour and, as I mentioned, had to pull out and was replaced in the squad by Alex Carey. Um great to see Kez out there in the first game. His father Gordon passed away uh just a few weeks before that first game. I played with Alex and his brother Adam when I was younger over at Glenelg and his father Gordon was one of my junior coaches down there and was a great man. So um my thoughts and prayers go out to the whole Carey family uh at this tough time. While we're on the topic of Australian cricket, states are beginning to select their squads for the first round of the Sheffield Shield season, which starts on Saturday and will run from October 4th to the 7th. All eyes will be on that the first couple of rounds of the Sheffield Shield season as the bat-off continues as blokes push for a spot in that Ashes squad. Not all the squads have been announced yet at the time of recording, but some of the names that have been selected already include Usman Kowaja, who will make his first appearance for Queensland this summer, having not featured in their one-day cup matches. You've got Marnus Labeshane who will be back, Michael Nieser, who may be pushing for a spot back in that Aussie squad as a backup bowling option, especially with Patty Cummins uh in a race against the clock to be fit for that first test. You've also got Hugh Wiebgen as well, who after a match-winning one-day cup century against Western Australia, uh, could make his first class debut, um, as I say, being named in that squad for Queensland. Moving on to Victoria, you've got the likes of Scott Boland, who will get some overs under the belt ahead of the Ashes series. Uh, again, he may be called upon should Patty Cummins not pull up for that first test. You've got Marcus Harris and then uh Fergus O'Neill, Campbell Kelloway, and Ollie Peak, who have all returned from India from that Aussie A tour. Looking at Western Australia, Cam Green will make his first Sheffield Shield appearance in nearly two years. Uh, he'll be joined by the likes of Corey Roccacioli. Ashton Agar is also in that squad despite not having a Western Australian contract. He's obviously opted out of the contract uh due to chasing franchise opportunities uh around the world. It'll be interesting to see with Cam Green where he bats in that lineup. Will he bat in his usual spot of number four for Western Australia or will he move up to number three where he's gonna bat in the test team? And the other thing we'll be keeping a close eye on is to whether he bowls uh as well. He he obviously hasn't bowled since he injured himself last August, and and the Aussies will be uh keen to get a few overs out of him during the summer in an all-important Ashes series. So the opening round of that Sheffield Shield season will see South Australia play Victoria at Adelaide Oval, Queensland take on Tazzy at Allen Borderfield up in Queensland, and WA take on New South Wales at the Wacker. Um, so it's gonna be a really interesting uh few rounds of Sheffield Shield in the lead up to the Ashes, which kicks off over in Perth on the 21st of November. Chris Wokes has this week announced his retirement from international cricket. The 36-year-old played 62 tests, 122 one day internationals, and 33 T20 internationals across his career. During that time, he took 192 wickets at an average of 29.6 and scored 2,034 runs at an average of 25.1 in tests. He took 173 wickets and made 1,524 runs in one day as and 31 wickets and 147 runs in T20 internationals. So this comes just a couple of days after England's director of cricket Rob Key said wokes wasn't part of their of England's plans moving forward with the the next World Test Championship cycle coming up and and move and looking ahead to the not this Ashes series but the next one there looking at some of the younger guys and and bringing that next crop of players through. So wokes wasn't a part of that. So I think he probably read between the lines that he wasn't going to get another crack at an international cricket and and maybe I guess jumped before he was he was officially pushed, I guess. But works has since uh his retirement come out this week and said that he wouldn't have been good enough to do a job for England in Australia, this Ashes series, so hence why he sort of announced his retirement. But hats off to Chris Wokes, he's been a fantastic competitor over his career. You just need to look at all the English players, the press and and supporters and and the messages that they've had uh around him this week. They've absolutely praised praised the pants off him, and they've said he's he's one of the nicest blokes you could play cricket with. And and Rob Key said that any team that he's been a part of, he's made better. So some really fantastic words for a fantastic player, and um, congratulations to Chris Wokes on on a fantastic career, and and we wish him all the best uh going forward. The English Lions have named a squad for a winter tour of Australia. They will head down under to help the England side prepare for uh what is going to be a hotly contested Ashes series. The England Lions squad will assemble over in Australia in November before matches in Perth, Canberra, and Brisbane. So they'll play three games, plus there'll be an England 11 versus uh Australia PMs 11 as well in Marnika. So those games will be played across mid to late November and into early December as well, and that side will be coached by uh former great uh Andrew Freddie Flintoff. So that squad consists of Raheem Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Jordan Cox, Matthew Fisher, Emilio Gay, Nathan Gilchrist, Tom Hartley, Tom Haynes, Josh Hull, Eddie Jack, Ben Kellaway, Tom Laws, Ben McKinney, Matthew Revis, James Rue, Thomas Rue, Mitchell Stanley, and Acer Tribe. So a decent looking squad there, and uh a couple of a couple of names I think you need to watch out for in this squad. Obviously, Raheem Ahmed is the is the big one um after his Ashes snub. I still can't believe he's missed out and and Will Jax has has been picked over him. But yeah, I went into that all last week, so make sure you go back and you can hear me ramble on about uh how how disgusted I was that Daheen Ahmed didn't make it into that Ashes squad and Will Jax did. Sonny Baker's another one. England obviously see him as a potential long-term international quick for them. Uh he made his England debut in the limited overs side this summer, so he's he's gonna be an exciting fast bowler to keep an eye on. Jordan Cox, probably one of the unluckiest England cricketers uh in the last couple of years. He was probably in line to make his test debut for England at the back end of last year on their tour of New Zealand before he got injured. Uh, and Jacob Bethel ended up coming in and taking his spot, and we all know what he's gone on to do. Jordan Cox was then named in the squad to face Zimbabwe at the start of this summer, and again suffered an injury in the lead up to that game, so was ruled out. But he's been putting runs on the board at county championship level, and it's only a matter of time before before he gets to go in that England side. Another batter to keep an eye on is James Rue. This kid is getting me an absolute gun. He at only 21 years of age, he's put 1,053 runs on the board this county championship season, finishing sixth in the overall run scorers for Div 1. So that tally included three centuries and five fifties as well, at an average of 45.78. So he's definitely one to keep an eye on. And the other one is Josh Hull. He made his England test debut last summer, um, but sustained an injury and missed selection this summer. Uh, but he's definitely going to be a future bowling option along with the likes of Sonny Baker for England. It's going to be interesting to see the pace of the likes of Sonny Baker and Josh Hull unleashed on the quicker bouncier Aussie Dex as well this summer. So a very exciting squad there for England and a few names to keep an eye out for in the future. And while we're on the topic of English cricket, the county championship season wrapped up last week. As I mentioned on last week's show, Nottingham won the Div 1 title, finishing 16 points clear of Surrey in the end, denying them of a fourth title in a row. Durham and Worcestershire unfortunately got relegated from Div 1 down to Div 2 after finishing 9th and 10th, respectively. And replacing them up in Div 1 is Leicester and Glamorgan who were promoted after finishing first and second, respectively. So a massive congratulations to Nottingham for their Div 1 title, and also a big congratulations to Leicester and Glamorgan who earn promotion back up into Div 1 for next season. Now there is plenty of Australian cricket going on at the moment. Not only are the women in action over in India in a one-day World Cup, the Aussie men are over in New Zealand involved in a T20 series. You've got the Sheffield Shield season about to kick off. You've got an Aussie A team who is currently touring in India. They finished their four-day series against India A with a five-wicket loss. They were seemingly in control of that game after taking a 226-run lead into the second innings. But Australia A were bundled out for 185 in their second innings despite the best efforts of skipper Nathan McSweeney leading the way from the front with an unbeaten 85 before Kale Rahu and Sysa Darsen put on an absolute clinic in the fourth innings. Kale Rahu finishing with 176 not out and leading India to five for 413 to win that game by five wickets. They're now moving on to a one-day series. Unfortunately, the first match of which was rained out without a ball being bowled. So we'll keep an eye on that series as that continues. Australia and India's under-19s are also doing battle at the moment in Australia. Unfortunately, the Aussies are getting a bit of a touch-up at the moment. They lost the one-day series 3-0, and they lost the first of two four-day matches by an innings and 58 runs. Exciting news for Indian fans. Surivanchi, the 14-year-old superstar who made a name for himself in this year's IPL with a century in his debut season. He has been making runs for fun over in Australia, and that was headlined by a century in that recent four-day game. He scored 113 from 86 deliveries at the top of the order for the Indian under 19. So he's definitely one to keep an eye on going forward. I want to finish this week's show. Now, obviously, fantastic player and one of the English greats, but I have a gripe with something that he said on another podcast recently. He came out and said that I don't think the Aussies are that great. Going on to then say that their batting's very ordinary, and it wouldn't worry me if I was captain. Now I'm I'm sorry, but Jeffrey, I think you've got that very wrong, and I will tell you why. Australia are the number one ranked test team at the moment. They were runner-up in the World Test Championship final a couple of months ago. You look at their batting lineup, yes, at the moment they've got a little bit of a fragile top order, which is still taking shape, but you look at the you look at the likes of Steve Smith, who is ranked number four in the world and will arguably go down as one of the best batsmen to ever play the game. Travis Head, who can take a game away from any team within within a session of a test match. Uzi, yes, he's on the decline, but has been a fantastic batsman in the past. And then Alex Carey, who is arguably the greatest keeper in the world at the moment, um, fantastic gloveman, and has been in great form across all formats with the bat as well of late. Those four are all inside the top 20 in the ICC batting rankings. Moving on to the bowling unit of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Stark, Josh Hazelwood, and Nathan Lyon, throw in Scott Boland as well, is is the best bowling attack in the world at the moment, and arguably the best bowling attack of all time. They they complement each other so well and have been doing the business for for such a long period of time. They're being mentioned in the same breath as the likes of McGrath, Gillespie, and Lee and Warren. That that bowling attack is a once-in-a-lifetime cartel, and you've got this this lineup who is being spoken about in the same breath, and the numbers talk for themselves, and as it stands at the moment, all four, all five, I should say, including Scott Boland, are all inside the top ten in the ICC bowling rankings. Then their wicket tallies, Nathan Lyon is the seventh highest wicket taker in Test history with 562. Mitchell Stark has four hundred and two test wickets, Patty Cummins 309, and Josh Hazelwood 295. Those are amazing numbers. I can't see where Jeffrey Boycott's coming when he says that I don't think the Aussies are that great. There's amazing players everywhere in that side. So I think I'd be taking a look in your own backyard, Jeffrey, before uh you start coming after the Aussies, and we'll uh we'll definitely see who comes out on top after a red hot ashes series down under. So that brings to an end another edition of the Ashes to Ashes podcast. Be sure to give us a follow and a rating on the likes of Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts from. And I'll be back at the same time next week with plenty more cricket action. So see you then.