England women take Ashes high ground

England will ignore the verbal barbs of Australia when the women's Ashes begins in Brisbane, captain Heather Knight says.

Australia and England captains Rachael Haynes and Heather Knight

England will ignore Australia's barbs as the women's Ashes begins, captain Heather Knight says. (AAP)

England have vowed to ignore Australia's combative approach and play with a smile when the Ashes begins in Brisbane.

Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy fired shots earlier this week, saying she planned to "bring the bitch back" in the multi-format series.

England captain Heather Knight laughed off Healy's comments, saying her No.1-ranked team planned to take the high ground as world champions on Sunday.

"It wouldn't be an Ashes tour without a little bit of word from the Aussies," Knight said on Saturday.

"We just want to let our cricket do the talking (but) obviously that's the route Australia want to go down, they felt they need to do something different to try and unsettle us.

"But that's a sign of where we are and how successful we've been as a team."

Lamenting the friendly nature of the game, Healy has forecast some fire from her side.

"That's definitely one area that personally I've looked back on the last few years and I think we've let slip," Healy said on The Unplayable Podcast.

"Playing all these domestic competitions around the world has made everyone too nice.

"I think this Ashes series might see a little bit of a different side of the Australian team, which I think is really cool.

"Personally I vowed to 'bring the bitch back' and hopefully return to my chirpy self behind the stumps and be a pest for the opposition."

England were notably chipper throughout their winning World Cup campaign and coach Mark Robinson expects nothing to change.

"Teams often take the persona of the captain as well, so we're lucky with Heather since she's come in she's played with a smile," Robinson told media in Brisbane.

"She's friendly and she's outgoing, and that's probably how our team is at their best."

Admitting she invites an aggressive on-field nature from her side, Australian captain Rachael Haynes said she won't put her wicketkeeper on a leash.

"Alyssa is probably one of the only players that can get away with coming out and saying that, but I think it was all in good fun and we're looking forward to the contest," she said.


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Source: AAP



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