England women: Heather Knight wants to 'prove a point' against Australia in the World Cup

Australia claimed the Ashes earlier this month, and will head to New Zealand wanting to take the World Cup title away from England next week.

The women's side suffered a similar fate to the men when it came to the Ashes this year, with England failing to win a game - losing the only completed T20 match and three one-day internationals.

Their only success came in a hard-fought draw in Canberra, but it leaves much work to be done by Heather Knight and her side before they begin their World Cup campaign.

Australia head in to the tournament as favourites having only lost once 2018 - to India last September.

But while Meg Lanning's side may look favourites on paper, Knight insists that her side won't go down without a fight.

"We've got Australia first and it's clear that we've got a bit of a point to prove as a side," said Knight.

"Australia are going to go in as favourites with the Ashes series we've just had against them but I think it should give us a lot of experience of what it takes to be successful in these events.

"Sometimes it's just about getting over the line and I think that's what we did so well in 2017. We just were able to win those games that were really tight, we were able to keep our composure in the big moments and deal with everything else that comes with a World Cup.

"Five years is quite a long time and Australia have been the outstanding team within that period so rightfully I think they deserve that favourites tag but I certainly believe as a side on our day we can beat them."

Knight also added that despite the disappointment of the Ashes being fresh in the memory, England's squad will be able to put that behind them and learn from their experiences heading into the World Cup.

"I think it's really important that we're able to park that and also realise that we haven't become a bad side overnight and we're still a very good ODI team," she said.

"I think the girls have actually digested and parked the Ashes quite well, we've had a bit of time off to get some headspace. We've got our first proper training session in Christchurch tomorrow and I'm sure the girls will be raring to go. There'll be good energy around the group I'm sure and completely looking forward to that first World Cup game."

England are next in action against Australia on March 5, with the match at Seddon Park expected to start around 01:00 GMT.