Not the men…. the women’s side.

So far so good for England in the women’s Ashes as they go six points ahead in the multi-format contest.

There’s no doubt that cricket is a hot sporting topic at the moment. England’s men crumbled to a humiliating 5-0 defeat in the Ashes this winter.  As I write, two one-day internationals have been and gone with no sign of improvement.

But it’s not all bad news.

England’s women made an excellent start last week in defence of their Ashes trophy.  And what a match!

A large crowd at the WACA in Perth on the first day of the test basked in forty degree heat as England won the toss and elected to bat.

After a decent start, England subsided to 201 all out, which looked at least fifty short of par.  This was somewhat of a recovery from 32-3 with Arran Brindle making 68 and Natalie Sciver 49.  Australian seamer, Rene Farrell, took 4-43.

However, the score began to look a good one as the Aussies faced a tricky half-hour on the first evening, losing two prized wickets and finishing the day on 9-2. Some fine England bowling reduced the Australians to 37-5, with Kate Cross taking two wickets on her debut.  Then the fightback began.  England’s bowlers seemed to be following the same pattern as the men, unable to finish off an innings.  Things worsened when strike bowler Katherine Brunt was removed from the attack by the umpires for bowling two dangerously high full tosses.  A flurry of wickets at the end saw Australia finally dismissed for 207, a lead of six. England were lucky to keep the lead down to so few.

However, they then faced a difficult and hostile period of Australian bowling and by the end of day two were 18-3.   England were further hampered by the fact that captain Charlotte Edwards had been off the field with a knee injury for much of the Australian innings, which meant even was she fit, she would be unable to bat until the fifth wicket had gone down.

The second innings didn’t go well and England were all out for 190.  Top scorer was a limping Edwards with 56. England had set a target of 185 for Australia to win the match.

It looked like Australia would take it at a canter when they reached 28-0 in double quick time.  An angry and revitalised Katherine Brunt then took the wicket of Villani for 21 and the impressive Kate Cross weighed in with two in two balls.  By the end of the third day Australia were 57-5.

The fourth and last day was a nail-biter. Wary of letting a potentially winning position slip, England bowled incredibly tightly, frustrating the Australians into bad shots.

It was pace bowler Anya Shrubsole who did the damage taking 3-48 including that of player of the match, Elyse Perry who, on the losing side, ended up with match figures of 102 runs and 8-79.

Needless to say, though, it was Katherine Brunt who had the last word, taking the final wicket of Elliott, bowling her with a fast, inswinging Yorker.   The match was over before lunch and England had won by 61 runs.

England now need to win just two of the remaining six matches (three 50-over games and three Twenty20s) to retain the Ashes.

But lest you think this a mere match report, I am glad to say there is so much more to be positive about as regards the development of women’s cricket in this country.

The Chance to Shine project was set up by the Cricket Foundation charity in 2005. Its aim was to reverse the decline in the playing of cricket in state schools. In 2005 just 10 per cent of state schools played any cricket at all.

Over 7,000 more schools now coach cricket, thanks to the scheme.

A key part of the initiative is “Girls on the Front Foot”, which has three distinct aims. Firstly, it aims to get equal participation for boys and girls across the country. Secondly, it is about aspiration – giving girls in disadvantaged communities the chance to take part, and thirdly it encourages development, not only of cricketing talent, but of life skills.

England captain Charlotte Edwards, head of England Women’s Cricket, Clare Connor and commentator Alison Mitchell, are on the Girls’ Cricket Board driving the scheme forward.

If you are interested in helping the Chance to Shine scheme I urge you to check out the website. There are many ways to get involved, from donating money to attending events to volunteering your time. If we are to build on the great strides made by women’s cricket over last 15 years, we need to be nurturing the talent of the future right now.

Meanwhile, we wait with bated breath for the remaining matches of the Ashes in Australia, hoping to see England holding that trophy aloft once more.

Keep in touch with all the Ashes news with ball by ball commentary on BBC Five Live Sports Extraand text commentary by the ECB and BBC website.