Lauren Winfield-Hill has labelled Jon Lewis's departure as England Women's head coach as unsurprising following the side's 'disastrous' 16-0 Ashes defeat in Australia.
Both Lewis and Heather Knight have departed from their roles as England Women head coach and captain respectively as part of a review process by the ECB into England's whitewash in Australia. No successors have yet been named for either job.
Speaking on the Wisden Women's Cricket Weekly podcast following the announcement of Lewis's departure, former England World Cup-winning wicketkeeper-batter Lauren Winfield-Hill said: "There's been some really good things that we've seen from Jon Lewis' reign. We've been clinging onto the [2023] Ashes here for a little while, it was the best English white-ball series in the ODIs and T20Is that we've seen for four or five years. But ultimately when it's mattered, you're going to get judged on World Cups and Ashes series, that's just the way it is.
"It is about results, but sometimes it's the nature as well. The nature of that Ashes [2025] series in particular was particularly disastrous from a performance point of view... There won't be too many people hugely surprised by the last six or seven months."
England crashed out of the T20 World Cup at the group stage last October, having remained unbeaten across four white-ball series in their 2024 home summer. They followed that with ODI and T20I series wins in South Africa and their first Test-win for a decade. However, they lost both white-ball series 3-0 to Australia before capitulating to an innings and 122-run defeat in the landmark Test at the MCG.
Questions were raised over the course of the series over England player's fitness standards, as well as how the side performed under pressure, with dropped catches playing an important role in the result of the series. Following the loss, Knight said she would consider her position as captain, having led the side for nine years and over 199 internationals, including the World Cup final win at Lord's in 2017.
Lewis took over as head coach from Lisa Keightley at the end of 2022, having previously held a position as bowling coach with the England men's Test side. His tenure started successfully as England reached the semi-finals of the 2023 T20 World Cup, and almost pulled off a remarkable Ashes comeback to win both white-ball series against Australia in England. However, speculation grew over his position following the side's losses over the course of the last six months.
England's next international series will begin in May on home soil against West Indies.
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