Nat Sciver-Brunt says there is no added pressure on England despite record ticket sales for the Women’s Ashes.
With just under a month until the multi-format series against Australian holders, over 70,000 tickets have been sold across seven venues.
England’s women’s football and rugby union teams have enjoyed success in front of huge crowds over the past year.
“We are the underdogs so there is no more pressure on us,” the all-rounder Sciver-Brunt told BBC Sport.
“Ticket sales are a big number, which brings a lot more attention to us. It could put pressure, but only from the outside.
“These are opportunities that must be seized. This is the right time, the right place and the right moment.”
Australia have held the Ashes since 2015 and are the 50+ and 20+ world champions, as well as the Commonwealth champions.
The Ashes series, which contains a Test, three One-Day Internationals and three T20s, kicks off on June 22.
Last year’s combined ticket sales record for women’s internationals of 50,000 has already been broken, and the record for an individual UK women’s bilateral international – 15,000 – is also set to be broken. .
More than double the number of tickets for the last Women’s Ashes in the UK in 2019 have been sold.
The big interest comes after a pivotal year for women’s team sport in England. In July, the Lionesses won the European Football Championship in front of 87,192 spectators at Wembley, while this month the same ground hosted 77,390 spectators for the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United – a world record for a national women’s football match.
In April, the England rugby team sealed a Six Nations Grand Slam with victory over France at Twickenham, as a women’s record crowd of 58,498 watched.
“Hopefully we can emulate what the Lionesses have achieved,” said Sciver-Brunt, 30.
“It will be different because there will be more people there, who hopefully will make more noise and support us. It will help, give energy when we need a little boost , or riding the wave when things are going well.
“That’s where we want to be, we want to play in front of big crowds, use that noise and that energy and that pressure and make it a positive thing.”
To accommodate the large number of spectators, grounds such as Lord’s, Edgbaston, The Oval and Trent Bridge – venues usually associated with major men’s matches – are used.
It’s a stark contrast to the start of Sciver-Brunt’s international career a decade ago, when she made her England debut at Louth Cricket Club in Lincolnshire.
For the first time in England, the Women’s Test will be played over five days, instead of the usual four. It is an attempt to ensure a positive result, after the draw of the last six women’s Tests played by any team.
Despite Australia’s dominance of the world game, England’s fast bowler Issy Wong suggested it was a “great time” to play themwhile the versatile Emma Lamb says on the side of Meg Lanning are “human” and “not perfect”.
Sciver-Brunt, who made his first test cent in the draw against South Africa last year, said: “Skill-wise, I don’t think we need to change too much.
“The way we play is probably the biggest difference we can make. We’ve made significant progress being aggressive, taking the positive option and always trying to put the pressure back on the opponent. Being able to do that in the moments of pressure is where we can win.
“Australia have been number one for a long time. To come up against a team like that is tough. We’re going to be under pressure and have to be at the top of our game to beat them. It’s possible. We just have to put it all together .”
