England eves coach Mark Robinson urges the team to get fitter

Australia edged England by just five runs in the semi-final of the Women’s World T20 with captain Meg Lanning top-scoring on the day with a measured 55. The Southern Stars’ victory has become a regular feature of the Ashes rivalry in recent years and Mark Robinson, having taken charge of his first global tournament, has vowed to push his players physically to change that.

Better running between the wickets would arguably have been enough for England on this occasion, with several likely twos turned into ones in the middle.

“For me it’s quite simple, we’ve got to get fitter and toughen up a little bit. We’re not fit enough, they out-ran us. Athleticism is something you’re given by God, but aerobic fitness is something we’ve got to get better at because we missed out on twos,” said the former Sussex coach.

“We’re looking for players who can stand up and be counted, players that can play under pressure and have that aerobic fitness necessary to do the job. That will be a necessity for any women’s team I’m in charge of going forward,” he added.

England, not for the first time this tournament appeared to be cruising to victory while Charlotte Edwards and Tammy Beaumont were adding 67 for the first wicket in the space of ten overs. But a familiar middle-order wobble left them with too much ground to make up in the closing overs, as they drifted out to 117 for 7.

Edward, who became the top-scorer in the tournament today, has been in the captaincy job for 10 years, but has shown no desire to relinquish the reins. Asked if she still had the hunger to lead her country, Edwards said, “Absolutely. Of course I want to continue captaining England, but if I’m not the right person then that’s not going to be my decision. I want to continue. I love what I do and hopefully I can continue giving my all to this group. I feel like I’m playing as well as ever.”

Robinson, who has approached his job with vigour in his first few months, is unlikely to be short of an opinion but appeared supportive of his skipper “We need to get a few more warriors like the captain in. She’ll come out as probably the highest run-scorer in the competition, led the team fantastically and she’s innovated when she’d needed to. Let’s get back to England and take stock there,” he said.

Here is how the game panned out – Aus v Eng Women’s World T20 Review: Skipper Meg Lanning takes Australia to the finals