These three ODIs are England’s last before the 50-over World Cup starts in India at the end of September, though Sciver-Brunt’s side will play the hosts and defending champions Australia in two warm-up matches.
England’s first match of the tournament is on 3 October against South Africa in Bengaluru.
Hartley, a World Cup winner in 2017, agreed that expectations need to be tempered regarding England’s chances in the tournament considering the recent turnaround in leadership, and that improvement would “not come overnight” after Edwards’ appointment.
She added that the 2026 T20 World Cup, which is being hosted in England, will be the right time to “expect bigger things” from the group.
England’s fielding has been subject to criticism throughout the series as a significant area for improvement but Cross added that some of the “narrative” from the press was not fair.
“It’s always what we have wanted. More media attention means more bums on seats, more ticket sales, more money into the game,” Cross said.
“But it’s really difficult to replicate the pressure you’re under in a match, to a training session – no matter how hard you try, it will never feel the same as doing it in front of 10,000 people at Old Trafford or wherever.
“It’s just not quite transitioning from training on to the pitch yet but I really don’t feel like we are that far away from it looking a whole lot better.
“The narrative is that we have to be perfect. No cricket team out there is ever going to have the perfect game, even when Australia are playing at their best they still fumble or bowl bad balls. It feels a bit like we are suddenly expected to be perfect and that doesn’t feel very fair to me.”
