As new England head coach Charlotte Edwards’ tenure will get beneath approach with the white-ball collection at house to West Indies, we assess the urgent issues in her in-tray…
Win crucial matches
Throughout Edwards’ 10-year reign as England captain, she guided the staff to the 2009 50-over World Cup and T20 World Cup titles in addition to three Ashes collection victories outright.
Within the 9 years since she moved on from that position and into retirement, England have misplaced the power to win the massive one, apart from the 2017 World Cup on house soil, and cope with strain.
The 16-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia this winter was arduous to abdomen however so have been the exits on the earlier two T20 World Cups, in South Africa and the UAE respectively.
In 2023, England misplaced within the semi-finals to South Africa after bungling a run chase, whereas a yr later they capitulated in opposition to West Indies, dropping a collection of catches and being dumped out within the group stage with then-skipper Heather Knight off the park injured.
Plus, it is not simply in The Ashes – a collection England haven’t gained in over a decade – the place the staff have fallen brief in opposition to Australia. Add in, too, the 2018 T20 World Cup remaining and 2022 50-over World Cup remaining. It is a narrative serial-winner Edwards should alter.
Win again the followers’ belief and alter perceptions
England bowler Kate Cross feels followers could have been misplaced after the Ashes debacle, which, across the dreadful outcomes, included star spinner Sophie Ecclestone refusing an interview with Alex Hartley following earlier feedback concerning the staff’s health.
There have been additionally the probably ill-advised pictures from final yr’s T20 World Cup of gamers on a ship occasion in Dubai. Beneath Edwards, social media use could tighten up.
Please use Chrome browser for a extra accessible video participant
Edwards, talking at her unveiling earlier this yr, says she is aiming to ‘discover the blueprint’ to assist the staff win main occasions
She stated: “We have talked very openly about the perception of the team – we’ve got to change people’s perceptions. But we’ve got to earn the right to do that.
“We have to cease placing stuff on social media that does not must be there. If it is not going to positively replicate on them or us as a bunch, it most likely will not be price posting.”
Fitness – an F-word banned by Edwards – was a hot topic over the winter with England decidedly second best to Australia in that department and it is clearly something that can be improved, although the coach feels “cricket consciousness” is what is required most.
Nat Sciver-Brunt has succeeded Heather Knight as England captain
Discover the following captain
Whereas Knight’s successor as captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, could have been the excellent candidate, she was, in reality, the one candidate. That could be a reasonably damning indictment of England’s succession planning and one thing they’ll attempt to keep away from repeating.
At 32, Sciver-Brunt is unlikely to be a decade-long skipper in the best way Edwards was and Knight got here near being, so coaching up her eventual alternative – Ecclestone, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean and Grace Scrivens could also be choices – ought to be on the agenda.
England’s Charlie Dean could also be a contender to exchange Nat Sciver-Brunt as captain within the years forward
Whether or not that’s by publicity to captaincy in home and England A cricket, being a part of the management group with the nationwide staff and even stepping in for Sciver-Brunt if she ever wants a break or to handle her workload, considering forward can be clever.
It was a peculiar determination to see a largely youthful group that toured Eire final September whereas the primary staff ready for the T20 World Cup led by 33-year-old Cross reasonably than a viable long-term England skipper.
Discover some left-handers
Edwards has made it clear gamers might be chosen on efficiency and never essentially as a result of they supply some extent of distinction by bowling left-arm seam, for instance.
Batting-wise, although, England’s high and higher center order has been a right-hand monopoly for a while now, so discovering a left-hander or two, simply to present opposition bowlers one thing totally different to consider, could also be of giant profit.
Grace Scrivens may clear up England’s lack of left-handers
Essex captain and former England U19 skipper Scrivens maybe heads that queue with the 21-year-old lengthy earmarked as a global of the longer term, whereas the skilled Eve Jones, now 32, has begun the Metro Financial institution One Day Cup season in advantageous kind.
Additional down the order, England seem to have a left-hander to depend on in Freya Kemp, supplied she is over the damage points which have blighted her younger profession to this point.
England have been crying out for a game-changing all-rounder at No 7 for a while, one able to bowling a heavy quota of overs and contributing considerably with the bat, and Kemp would be the reply.
England Ladies’s summer time fixtures
All occasions UK and Eire; all video games stay on Sky Sports activities
T20 worldwide collection vs West Indies (Might)
- First T20: Wednesday Might 21 (6.30pm) – Canterbury
- Second T20: Friday Might 23 (6.35pm) – Hove
- Third T20: Monday Might 26 (2.30pm) – Chelmsford
One-day worldwide collection vs West Indies (Might-June)
- First ODI: Friday Might 30 (1pm) – Derby
- Second ODI: Wednesday June 4 (1pm) – Leicester
- Third ODI: Saturday June 7 (11am) – Taunton
T20 worldwide collection vs India (June-July)
- First T20: Saturday June 28 (2.30pm) – Trent Bridge
- Second T20: Tuesday July 1 (6.30pm) – Bristol
- Third T20: Friday July 4 (6.35pm) – The Kia Oval
- Fourth T20: Wednesday July 9 (6.30pm) – Emirates Outdated Trafford
- Fifth T20: Saturday July 12 (6.35pm) – Edgbaston
One-day worldwide collection vs India (July)
- First ODI: Wednesday July 16 (1pm) – Southampton
- Second ODI: Saturday July 19 (11am) – Lord’s
- Third ODI: Tuesday July 22 (1pm) – Chester-le-Road
