England coach addresses sensitive issue after Ashes debacle

The new coach of the England women's cricket squad is reserving judgement on the team's fitness but admits "more accountability" is needed in that area after a summer Down Under marred by a 16-0 thrashing and claims of poor conditioning.

Charlotte Edwards, England's all-time leading run-scorer in the international arena, was revealed this week as the successor to Jon Lewis, who was sacked last month following the team's historic Women's Ashes series defeat.

Former England spinner Alex Hartley was critical of the team's fitness while commentating in Australia on the Ashes, remarking: "About 80 per cent of the England team are fit and athletic enough, but there are girls in that side who are letting the team down when it comes to fitness."

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Hartley said the comment cut so deep that some coaches and players had given her "the cold shoulder". Former teammate Sophie Ecclestone even refused to be interviewed by her, Hartley said.

Fitness has subsequently been a hot topic in the UK press following Edwards' unveiling as coach.

"In terms of fitness, I'm going up to Loughborough [an English town] next week and the team will be in a fitness session, so I'll judge them on that next week," Edwards said.

"What I do want is more accountability from players around fitness.

"I don't want that to be a talking point moving forward. That's really important to me.

"In terms of our professional standards, anyone who knows me, I set pretty high standards, so that's something I'll be instilling within this group.

"It's a fresh start for us all. And I really can't wait for the prospect of getting started."

Edwards also said in an interview with the BBC: "Fitness is a non-negotiable. We should be fit."

Edwards' reign as coach will begin with three T20s and three one-dayers against the West Indies at home across May and June.