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Former England Women’s coach Mark Robinson branded the side’s catching “embarrassing” and “hard to watch” after an error-strewn second day nudged Australia ever closer to an Ashes whitewash.
A torturous tour appears to be heading towards an unprecedented 16-0 series sweep after the hosts piled up 422 for five at the MCG – a lead of 252.
Annabel Sutherland led the way with 163 but was dropped twice in the first hour on 29 and 31, while Beth Mooney finished on 98 not out after surviving three chances before reaching 20.
At least seven catchable opportunities hit the turf, with a couple of half-chances to add, and there were several egregious misfields elsewhere.
The blame was shared around as Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones, Sophie Ecclestone, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Maia Bouchier and Lauren Filer all fumbled chances.
And Warwickshire head coach Robinson, who won the 2017 World Cup during his time in charge of England Women, was concerned about what he saw.
“It’s been infectious. One goes down, confidence goes and people don’t want the ball,” he told TNT Sports.
“They had spells in the game where it got embarrassing. It was hard to watch. The tenser we get, the harder our hands get.
There’s some scars, they’ve not healed and the scabs are coming off quite quickly. It’s been quite a brutal tour.
Former England Women’s coach Mark Robinson
“That was quite a chastening day. We had a spell where there were balls going through people’s legs as well, you feel for the bowlers and the captain as well.
“Heather Knight had a really good day as captain, which sounds ridiculous looking at the scorecard, but they’ve come out with great plans and the bowlers have delivered to a large extent. But when you miss that many catches it’s going to be hard to bowl anyone out.”
England’s handiwork has been a problem throughout the series and even further back, with several catches spilled during their exit from the T20 World Cup at the hands of the West Indies.
“There’s some scars, they’ve not healed and the scabs are coming off quite quickly,” said Robinson. “It’s been quite a brutal tour.”
On a day when a senior figure such as under-fire head coach Jon Lewis should perhaps have faced the music, 20-year-old MacDonald-Gay took media duties for her side.
Clearly weary after a long day that saw her under-served by figures of one for 69, MacDonald-Gay adopted a unexpectedly optimistic outlook.
“I’m pretty tired, my feet are killing me, but I think it was a good day. Quite long, but we’ve done well,” she offered.
As for the catches, she insisted England left no stone unturned when it came to readying themselves in practice.
“We do a lot of competitive fielding, I feel like we’re always on it in fielding in training,” she said.
“I feel like we are 100 per cent prepared going into every game for any skills we might need to use. I feel our preparation has been really on point.
“The drops were what they were, we’ve just got to move past that and move on to the next day ahead.”
Whether the ECB hierarchy takes such a charitable view in the inevitable post-series review remains to be seen.
