Heather Knight has spent years calling for five-day ladies’s Tests. Unfortunate, then, that she has simply presided over one which completed in three – England’s first defeat in that time-frame in additional than twenty years.

Knight put a courageous face on England’s 347-run defeat against India within the one-off Mumbai Test when she spoke on Saturday, arguing that the main focus ought to as an alternative be on England’s success within the white-ball leg of the tour: England, in any case, got here out on prime in two of the three Twenty20 video games which preceded the Test.

“We’re pretty philosophical about [losing the Test],” she stated. “These conditions were extreme, and I’d be surprised if we face those again unless we play another Test in India in the near future, which I am not sure is in the plan. We’ve got the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh next year, and that’s a key focus for us.”

It’s true that England do not need one other Test match scheduled till subsequent November (towards South Africa), and no extra in India till a minimum of mid-2025, in keeping with the longer term excursions programme. It’s additionally true that it’s troublesome for a crew to be equally adept on the red-ball and white-ball video games, provided that Tests are such a rarity in ladies’s cricket.

On the opposite hand, disregarding defeat by claiming that the match was unimportant anyway is hardly a great way to make the case for taking part in extra Test cricket – the format Knight has stated she feels is the head of her sport. Whichever manner you sq. it, being knocked over for 136 within the first innings and 131 within the second, and batting for a grand complete of 63 overs in what was alleged to be a four-day recreation, was an embarrassing show.

The actual fear is this isn’t an remoted incident, however that it could be turning into one thing of a sample for England beneath the teaching of Jon Lewis. This is after a T20 sequence defeat by Sri Lanka in September and, extra not too long ago, nearly messing up an easy run-chase of 81 within the second T20 towards India, then being bowled out for 126 within the third. Is Jon-ball (the aggressive type of play to which the coach lends his identify) starting to encourage an excessive amount of of a one-track mindset?

England now have a prolonged break earlier than their subsequent worldwide task, a white-ball tour of New Zealand starting in March. One key concern might be guaranteeing Sophie Ecclestone continues on the street to restoration from her current shoulder harm, after changing into visibly annoyed at instances together with her relative lack of success in India. “She gets emotional,” Nat Sciver‑Brunt stated through the Test. “She’s got very high expectations because she’s been performing at the top of her game for the past few years, and she wants to be in exactly the place she was in before she got injured.”

Another fear would be the type of Sophia Dunkley, who has been England’s opener of alternative in T20 cricket for the previous 18 months, however for the reason that begin of 2023 has hit only one worldwide half century. The technical adjustments to her grip which she made after a troublesome summer time, together with attending Lewis’s emergency batting boot camp in Mumbai in October, don’t appear to have carried out the trick; England might but must make a troublesome name forward of September’s World Cup in Bangladesh, particularly with Maia Bouchier desperate to tackle the opener mantle.

Either manner, let’s hope Lewis is having extra sincere conversations within the dressing room than the one Knight had with the media after the match. Shrugging off your worst defeat in over 20 years will not be the best way to organize for a World Cup.