The approach to the Chelmsford County Cricket Ground in Essex has an ordinariness that only suburban England can truly provide.
After passing through ever-narrower residential streets, you eventually see the light towers, before endless white demountable buildings come in to view. Suddenly, you've reached the conclusion of a dead-end road and you're there.
Think Leichhardt Oval, rather than Lord's.
But what it lacks in aura, this ground makes up for in competitive edge: A good batting pitch, combined with a fast outfield, means runs flow quickly here and the small crowd always supports the home side with gusto.
Australia's cricketers were acutely aware of all that as they piled out of the team bus, on a hot afternoon back in July 2019.
Despite leading the series 8-2 at that point, and needing only one more win to secure the Ashes, they were cautious of the venue that local media loved to call "Fortress Chelmsford".
"I've played there a couple of times before and both times we'd been beaten pretty comprehensively," Meg Lanning told ABC Sport.
Starting strong
Lanning says that, despite England's perfect record at the ground against Australia, she can remember her team wanted to secure the trophy as soon as possible in that first game of the T20 series.
On a good batting track, Australia was sent in to bat and lost their first wicket in the opening over.
Australia's hard-hitting opener Alyssa Healy was caught out, smashing a ball straight up and the Australian captain was soon making her way to the crease to join Beth Mooney.
Despite a capacity of less than 7,000 fans, the atmosphere at the ground was intense.
"I think Beth and I naturally got off to quite a good start, without trying to force it too much.
"Obviously, it was a really good wicket. The outfield was lightning fast. We were able to find the gaps a fair bit and get off to a good start."
A key moment came when Lanning was on 19 not out, as she faced up to the bowling of Sophie Ecclestone.
Out of nowhere, Lanning dances down the wicket and lofts the English spinner over mid-on for a delicate six.
In the TV coverage, the camera cuts back to her just as the ball carries over the boundary rope: Lanning simply shrugs her shoulders and smiles at her batting partner.
"That's generally not an area of the ground that I'm overly productive in," she said.
Into the zone
Not long after, Lanning brought up her 50 off just 24 balls, with a powerful flick off her legs towards the square leg boundary.
The ball flies so fast to the fielder that there's only time for one run. But the sound is unmistakeable to everyone inside the ground: This woman is in good nick.
Still, Lanning knew that she needed to keep scoring runs as quickly as possible.
When Mooney departed for a well-made 54 in the 13th over, Lanning had already reached 80 not out in a partnership worth 134 runs. But she wasn't about to slow down, now that she'd lost her batting partner.
Her shot to bring up her century was one of the best of the day.
Picture this: Experienced English medium-pacer Anya Shrubsole delivers a perfectly respectable ball outside off stump and, in one motion, Lanning jumps across and, hitting with the swing, slog sweeps it for six, straight into the crowd. It's brutal, yet beautiful batting.
Lanning was now "in the zone" as cricketers like to say, hitting the ball sweetly with every shot and clearing the boundary regularly. The boisterous Chelmsford crowd had been reduced to "oohs" and "aahs" as they regularly ducked for cover.
"It's almost like you know what they're going to bowl, before they do it. I think that is what I was able to do on that day," she said.
"If you are ahead of the game, it gives you a bit more time to react.
Leading right from the front
To a ripple of reluctant applause, Lanning eventually walked off after 20 overs on 133 not out. She'd just scored the highest individual score by a woman in T20 international cricket.
From the 63 deliveries she faced, Lanning had hit 17 fours and 7 sixes.
In the process, Australia had set a monstrous total of 3 for 226. It was a target that proved way too high for the hosts, who stumbled to 9 for 133 in reply.
With the win, Australia took an unassailable 10-2 lead in the series, and England's unbeaten record at "Fortress Chelmsford" had been broken. The tourists would eventually go on to claim the Ashes, 12-4.
"It was certainly a satisfying knock from a personal perspective, to be able to play that match-winning innings, which you would ideally like to do all the time," Lanning said.
"Especially, since I hadn't been able to have a huge impact on the series previously."
While opening bowlers Megan Schutt and Ellyse Perry combined to take five wickets in the second innings of the match at Chelmsford, for Alyssa Healy, this was definitely Meg's day.
"It was some of the cleanest striking I've ever seen," Healy told ABC Sport.
