Australia remain in control of the Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, after going to stumps at 0-82 on day three with a lead of 92 runs.
The last six women’s Tests have ended as draws, but both Australia and England were adamant on Saturday night they wanted to force a result in the final two days.
Working in their favour is the fact a fifth day is scheduled for this match for only the second time in history, allowing both the time for a result and possible wear and tear on the wicket.
That in itself creates a challenge for both teams, with Australia likely to be bowling on a day-five pitch for the first time and England set for their first attempt at batting on one.
Gardner took 4-99 in England’s first innings total of 463, and claimed the majority of the big wickets after getting through 25.2 overs.
“For a whole bowling unit it is making sure you keep the stumps in play,” Gardner said.
“I know there hasn’t been a lot of bounce and in that last little period you saw balls that were bouncing and some staying quite low.
“It is fighting your instincts (when batting), wanting to go back to balls that are there. For us it is being really relentless on our length.
“We speak about that a lot as a group, being really diligent and always attacking the stumps to to bring all modes of dismissal in.
“And I think that is super important when you’re going into day five of a Test match, which we don’t normally do.”
Gardner’s comments came after England lost 4-15 late in their innings on Sunday, following Tammy Beaumont setting them up with the chance to take the lead with her 208.
Beaumont was also adamant England would go after any target set by Australia, saying there were still runs left in the wicket.
“We want to push ourselves and try and get a result. No-one came here for a draw,” Beaumont said.
“If they set us a target, I would have a feeling we’ll be giving it a good crack.
“The more difficult ball to face is the one on the stumps, halfway to the top of the stumps. There is not too much spin until the ball gets old.”