England Women’s national selector Lydia Greenway laid out her plan for the side to close the gap on the world’s best, Australia, with a push for ‘world-class’ allrounders at the heart of their strategy.
As part of that plan, all-rounders Dani Gibson and Freya Kemp have been starters throughout the summer, which included T20 series wins over New Zealand and India, as well as a run to the final of the T20 World Cup on home soil – before being beaten by Australia.
Talented 21-year-old all-rounder Freya Kemp has impressed during an extended run in the England side this summer
Charlotte Edwards’ side were also well beaten by India in a historic first women’s Test at Lord’s, but they ended their summer on a high with a 3-0 ODI series sweep of Ireland.
“We don’t want to be behind Australia all the time, we’ve got to close that gap,” Greenway told Sky Sports Cricket during the third ODI win over Ireland on Sunday.
“And when you look at Australia, and how they’re lined up in their top seven, they’ve probably got three or four bowling options – so we need to look at how we can do that.
“We know in the women’s game, it’s the all-rounders who dominate, and we have to look at that not just in the short term, but in the long term as well.
“If you’re world class at your first skill, there’s then wiggle room with what you offer in your other two skills. But I think if you are a very good international cricketer, but not world class, you have to offer us something else. That’s my personal opinion on how we want to move things forward. I think that’s really important.”
For the ODI series against Ireland, England also trialled Alice Capsey at wicketkeeper, instead of regular starter Amy Jones – with the aim, again, being to add to the multi-faceted nature of their top order.
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“With Alice Capsey, ideally, we would’ve given her this opportunity if it was a T20 series. That’s where we see her potentially, if she can add that string to her bow,” Greenway explained.
“She’s proven herself a really capable middle-order batter, and by her having the opportunity to keep, if she has that role moving forwards, it frees up other spaces.
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“It creates a bit more competition with Amy Jones, but she is very much the person who has the gloves at the moment.”
What else did we learn from England series whitewash?
England wrapped up their international summer with a thumping 114-run win in the final ODI against Ireland in Worcester on Sunday, Sophia Dunkley starring with the bat as she cracked a run-a-ball 119 at the top of the order.
Reflecting on what the side will take away from the 3-0 series whitewash, former England bowler Tash Farrant told Sky Sports Cricket: “They’ve learnt that Sophia Dunkley’s form has transferred into the 50-over format after a brilliant Hundred [tournament].
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“Maia Boucher too, back at the top of the order, they could potentially be a good opening partnership going forward.
“They’ve also learnt that Tilly Corteen-Coleman is probably going to be in and around the team, playing with Sophie Ecclestone.
“Other than that, I would have liked to have seen Grace Potts, and maybe Charis Pavely get a game. I’m not quite sure I’ve learnt enough about the slightly newer players.
“They’ve won the series 3-0. That would have been first and foremost, but I still think there’s quite a lot of questions going forward.”
England spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman celebrates with captain Charlie Dean during the third ODI against Ireland
Greenway backs Sciver-Brunt as captain after Dean impresses
Former Ireland international Isobel Joyce also highlighted Charlie Dean’s captaincy as a plus for England, having successfully led the side for the second time this summer in place of the rested Nat Sciver-Brunt.
“We already knew how good a leader she was, but they’ve now learned she’s able to figure things out in the middle with new players,” Joyce told Sky Sports Cricket.
“And, really important, she bowled well as a captain that was under pressure. She was able to take the bull by the horns when they needed a wicket, and bowled with real tenacity. That’s what you want in any kind of leader.
“If you’re Charlotte Edwards, who was a brilliant captain herself, game recognises game, and I think that’s great for the head coach to see.”
Despite Dean continuing to deputise impressively for Sciver-Brunt, national selector Greenway reiterated that the latter will continue to lead the side going forward and there wouldn’t be a splitting of the role.
“Nat is very much our captain across all formats. I think she does an outstanding job,” Greenway said. “She’s one of the most unflappable characters that you can meet, and I think that’s really crucial in that leadership position.
“In Charlie Dean and Dani Gibson, actually, I think what we’ve seen are leaders coming forwards who, if Nat does go down, then we know we’ve got options – and you could argue that we’ve never really had that before.
“Charlie Dean openly speaks about how she’s constantly learning, and I’ve got a huge amount of confidence that, if Nat goes down again at any point, then she’ll be more than ready to take over the reins.”