LONDON: The head of England women`s cricket said the side had been `out-performed in every facet of the game` after their whitewash by Australia in the Women`s Ashes.

Australia completed an unprecedented 16-0 rout in the multi-format contest with a crushing innings and 122-run win in the one-off Test in Melbourne on Saturday.

That followed clean sweeps of the preceding three One-day Internationals and three T20 matches.

During the series, England repeatedly suggested they were getting `close` to an outstanding side, but former England men`s captainAlastair Cook insisted they were `at least 20 per cent behind Australia in everything`.

England spinner Sophie Ecclestone, meanwhile, refused to do a television interview with former England team-mate turned pundit Alex Hartley, who had accused several players of lacking fitness after the current team`s shock T20 World Cup exit against the West Indies in Dubai in October.

And England women`s coach Jon Lewis, having previously denied Hartley`s claims, extraordinarily cited `cultural difference` as the reason why Australia are fitter, for all he is in charge of one of the best-funded teams in women`s cricket.

`I walked from Bondi to Coogee (in Sydney)... Pretty much every Australian in the eastern suburbs is in the water, doing Surf Lifesaver, playing touch rugby,` said Lewis.

`Our talent pool at the moment is small, and I definitely think Australia have an advantage in terms of athleticism.

England`s woeful performances in Australia, however, have seen the positions of both Lewis and captain Heather Knight called into question.

Clare Connor, the England and Wales Cricket Board`s manager director of women`s cricket prom-ised a comprehensive review after a `brutal` series loss to a `ruthless` Australia.

But while Connor would not speculate on the future for Lewis and Knight, she did not require a review to give a scathing initial assessment.

`We`ve been out-performed in every facet of the game, and we`ll need to be very honest about that, said Connor, herself a former England women`s captain, during a conference call. `As a team we`ve been out-skilled and out-played.

England have not won a major women`s cricket trophy since lifting the 2017 50-over World Cup onhome soil, with their ability to play under pressure a recurring problem.

Lewis and Knight have defended the team against accusations of a poor mental approach but Connor accepted it was an issue England had to address ahead of this year`s World Cup in India, which starts in August.

`I think one of the main things that is evident is the ability to play under pressure,` she said. `Certain individuals have, but as a collective we have to be honest and say we`ve haven`t handled the pressure of this series in the way that we want to.`-AFP