England seek to regain the Women’s Ashes with the most experienced of captains in Charlotte Edwards at the helm but a new coach in Paul Shaw alongside her.
Long-time skipper Edwards, who has made 251 appearances in all international formats, will start the series tomorrow at Wormsley with her 11th Ashes Test - her maiden was 15 years ago - while Shaw is in charge of his first.
However, Shaw is by no means new to the England women’s set-up. Before he was appointed Head of England Women’s Performance in early June, he was England Women’s Academy Head Coach from 2008 to 2011 and ECB Women’s & Girls’ High Performance Manager since 2010.
Former Staffordshire player Shaw knows enough of world champions Australia, who are led by Jodie Fields, to appreciate the task of wining back the urn over the sole Test, three one-day internationals and as many Twenty20 internationals this month.
“It’s incredibly exciting,” he told ecb.co.uk. “It’s an opportunity to see where we’re at against the best in the world and there’s no doubt it will be an incredibly tough series.
“The Ashes series is always very, very tough. But certainly at the moment it will be tough. They’re a very, very good side. But it’s an opportunity that all the team are looking forward to and one that we want to do our best in to give us the best chance of bringing back the Ashes.
“Make no mistake, it’s going to be a huge challenge, but one that we’re very much looking forward to getting stuck into.”
The new format for the Women’s Ashes, replacing a one-off Test, has received virtually universal approval - including from former England head coach Mark Lane, whom Shaw has effectively taken over from.
Six points will be awarded to the winners of the Test and two for victory in each limited-overs international, the side with the most points at the end of the series securing the urn.
Shaw added: “I think the new format is fantastic and the points system across three formats of the game is very, very good because that keeps everybody focussed on the game at every point in time.”
Shaw is being supported by assistant coaches Carl Crowe and David Capel, former Northamptonshire player and coach Capel having been appointed since Shaw took charge.
“I think behind any outstanding team there’s some outstanding people and I think we’re very fortunate to have some outstanding people in terms of coaches and support staff,” Shaw said.
“I think that’s absolutely fundamental if we’re going to achieve number one in the world, which is needless to add a huge challenge, then its the oustanding people that we’ve got that are going to enable us to do that.
“Certainly David Capel brings fantastic both playing and coaching experience that we absolutely require in this environment. He’s an outstanding individual, an outstanding coach and we’re very fortunate to have him.”
Alongside such vaunted company Shaw, who began his coaching career at Barnsley Cricket Club - the home team of England seamer Katherine Brunt, has set his sights high.
“I’m really enjoying the role,” he enthused. “It’s obviously a really big job in women’s cricket and one that I’ve worked towards for some time. So being given the opportunity to make the biggest difference I possibly can is something I’m looking forward to doing.”
“It’s an opportunity for me to lead the England programme and take it to a world-leading programme over the next four years, working with some outstanding coaches and support staff and some outstanding players to give us the best opportunity to achieve the challenge of becoming number one in the world over the next four years.”