England Women head coach expresses preference for age-group World Cup

London [UK], Mar 28 (ANI): England head coach Mark Robinson labelled the ICC's proposal to introduce an age-group World Cup for women’s cricket as "fantastic" and expressed his preference which age group would be catered for by the tournament.

“It's brilliant. Fantastic from the ICC. I selfishly and privately hope they do the 21s and not the 19s. That'll allow for more growth. Some of the girls are at the same stage as the boys are, but those extra two years will just allow more people to stay in the system, more people to develop," ESPNcricinfo quoted Robinson, as saying.

"That's my personal view. But if it ends up being the Under-19s, it's still going to be a great initiative and great progression for the game," he added.

After losing the first two ODIs against India, England bounced back to win the third match. Since then, the Heather Knight-led side has won 10 consecutive international matches, including three T20Is against India, three-match ODIs and as many T20Is against Sri Lanka.

England will host West Indies for three ICC Women's Championship matches and three T20Is in June, followed by a multi-format series against Australia in July.

Ranked at number two in the limited-overs format, England are aiming to win back the Ashes for the first time since 2014.

"We've got a lot of cricket to try and sort out things. What we're trying to do is create options in positions; always try and see who your best players are, and the back-up players as well. So when the Ashes come around, you have all your best, key players - your Brunts, Taylors, Knights, Shrubsole and Beaumonts - all fit," Robinson said.

"We've got a good record against Australia. We drew the last Ashes (after losing the ODI leg). We are the 50-overs holders of the World Cup. But Australia have made a move as well. They've moved their cricket on, so we'll have to be at our best to beat them. That'll be the ambition and hope," he said. (ANI)