ENGLAND head coach Lisa Keightley admitted today the squad are still “a bit rusty,” just days before the start of their Women’s Ashes series against Australia in Adelaide.

The multi-format series was brought forward by a week and will start with three T20 matches at the Adelaide Oval, commencing on January 20.

England’s preparation time has been dented by the mandatory 10-day quarantine upon arriving in New Zealand ahead of their World Cup defence in March and Keightley admitted the earlier start to the Ashes has affected the squad.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve started that well to be totally honest, we’re trying to get up to speed as best we can and we’ve played a couple of internal matches,” Keightley said.

“We played a 35-over match after sitting around with rain for about three hours, so we played that and then we played two T20s and we lost both.

“So [we are] still a bit rusty you could say.”

England have travelled to Australia looking to become the first team to beat Meg Lanning’s side in any series since the 2013-14 Ashes.

This series comes after England’s men’s side surrendered the urn at the earliest opportunity, before succumbing to a 4-0 defeat.