"We've seen weirder things happen than that in cricket" - Sophie Ecclestone confident of making a comeback in Women's Ashes

England spinner Sophie Ecclestone is confident of making a comeback in the ongoing Women's Ashes 2023, saying that she has witnessed weird things happen in cricket.

The hosts currently trail 0-6 in the points table following their defeat in the one-off Test match at Trent Bridge and final-over defeat in the first T20I at Edgbaston. England need to win all their remaining five limited-over games to clinch the Ashes urn for the first time since 2015.

While it looks like a difficult task, Ecclestone feels that her team is not far away from the Aussies. The left-arm spinner asserted that the English girls are up for the challenge and are raring to take the field in the second T20I.

"We've seen weirder things happen than that in cricket," Ecclestone told reports ahead of the second T20I. "We're up for the challenge, we know exactly what we need to do. We're really not far away from them. They're a great team and we compete with them a lot, but we have to go one better tomorrow."

"It's obviously going to be a really hard task to beat the Aussies, five out of five, but we know what we need to do and the girls are up for it tomorrow. So we're hoping to put on a big show in front of the big crowd," she added.

It won't be an easy task for England given that Australia are unbeaten since March 2021 in the shortest format of the game. They haven't lost their last 39 completed white-ball matches across formats, a run that dates back to their last two World Cup triumphs.

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"Makes all the hard work on and off the field worth it" - Sophie Ecclestone on massive turnouts

Sophie Ecclestone also welcomed the huge turnouts in the stadiums for the women's games, saying that it motivates them to work hard.

The one-off Ashes Test attracted over 23,000 fans across five days, while the first T20I saw almost 20,000 fans turn up at Edgbaston for the thriller.

It's absolutely amazing," Ecclestone said. "To see so many kids in the crowd, so many people watching our games has been amazing. I think [Edgbaston] is the largest crowd I've ever had in the UK, so hopefully it continues."

"I know we've got sell-out crowds at the Oval and Lord's, and I'm just so excited to get out and play cricket there in front of them," she added. "It makes all the hard work on and off the field worth it. I think we're just really excited to get there and entertain them, and hopefully inspire the next generation to play cricket."

The second T20I between England and Australia is scheduled to be played at the Kennington Oval in London on Wednesday, July 5.