For the England women’s cricket team, the build-up to Christmas will look a bit different this year with a trip to the West Indies (Antigua and Barbados) for the majority of December. Both teams have seen major changes to the squads since they last met in the Autumn of 2020 where they played 5 T20s behind closed doors in a bio-secure bubble environment at Derby County Cricket Club.
England will see the return of Captain, Heather Knight, who withdrew from the side due to injury during the Commonwealth Games and went on to have hip surgery, missing England’s home series against India. Knight’s leadership and skill was evidently missed during the Commonwealth Games, hosted in Birmingham. The captaincy was handed to all-rounder Nat Sciver whose side struggled against India in the semi-final, throwing away the bronze medal to New Zealand who they had thrashed earlier in the week.
Whilst some players opted for some well-deserved rest and recovery, followed by indoor training, for Alice Capsey, Danni Wyatt and Amy Jones the last six weeks have been spent out in Australia, playing in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in its 8th edition. Fast bowler, Issy Wong, withdrew from the tournament where she was due to join the Hobart Hurricanes, with the ECB wanting to manage her workload after a busy summer. Top scoring with 80* in a match-winning performance for the Melbourne Stars, Capsey is in fine form with both bat and ball ahead of the tour with plenty of new experiences under her belt against some of the best players in the world. Wyatt helped her side, Brisbane Heat, out of the group stages, making some huge contributions to the team with the bat. England’s keeper, Amy Jones, performed for the Sydney Thunder, scoring 194 in 10 innings and shared the keeping with local talent, Tahlia Wilson. Lauren Winfield-Hill, who recently lost her Central Contract and signed a 3 year deal with Northern Diamonds, has also featured in this years WBBL. Winfield-Hill signed for the Melbourne Stars. She was dropped by England during the World Cup in March and hasn’t played for the side since. Despiet this, she had a hugely successful summer winning both the Hundred, with Oval Invincibles and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with Northern Diamonds at Lords.
All-rounder, Nat Sciver, who missed England’s final series of the summer to prioritise mental health and veteran Katherine Brunt, return to the side, providing some much-needed experience back to the team, something they seemed to lack with their youthful side in September. Speaking of youth, 17-year-old, Freya Kemp, who has just signed her first contract — an England central contract — has been named in the side. With figures of 1/82 against India in Canterbury, she was introduced to ODIs by a masterclass performance of 143* by Harmanpreet Kaur. However, days later, Kemp thrived at Lords in front of a large crowd, finishing her season with figures of 2/24. Notably, here, she bowled Jhulan Goswami for 0 in her final international game for India.
England’s two main advantages are experience and depth. They have plenty of seam bowlers with the likes of Nat Sciver, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davies, Kate Cross, Alice-Davidson Richards, Issy Wong and Lauren Bell but it’s too soon for an injured Tash Farrant to return to the squad after missing the English summer due to a stress fracture in her back. Their spin department is sorted with world-class Sophie Ecclestone joined by Emma Lamb, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight, Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn. Similarly, the top order is a good mix of experience and youth with the likes of Nat Sciver, Danni Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight joined by Alice Capsey, Emma Lamb and Sophia Dunkley.
Over the summer we saw former England Head Coach, Lisa Keightley, developing different sides for the ODIs and the T20s. Often seen in the men’s game, this is not as common in the women’s. Emma Lamb, Charlie Dean and Tammy Beaumont are all key members of the ODI squad but weren’t selected for the Commonwealth Games where players such as Sarah Glenn and Maia Bouchier found their feet. Newley appointed Head Coach, Jon Lewis, not to be mistaken for the other Jon Lewis or in fact the department store, John Lewis, has taken his opportunity to make some changes and develop the squads as he sees fit.
On the other hand, the West Indies’ weakness is their lack of depth. The West Indies’ most recent series was against Commonwealth Bronze medallists, New Zealand in September and October 2022, following the inaugural Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL). The White Ferns won both the T20 series (4–1) and the ODI series (2–1). In the ODIs, off-spinner, Karishma Ramharack, was joint lead wicket-taker for the West Indies alongside skipper, Hayley Matthews, having 5 wickets to their names each. Matthews came out on top in the batting scoring 88 runs at an average of 29.33. In the T20s, it was leg-spinner, Afy Fletcher who made the headlines, taking 6 wickets at an impressive average of 11.83 and once again, Hayley Matthews led from the front, scoring 119 runs across the 5 games.
West Indies legend, Deandra Dottin, will be missing from the squad after announcing her retirement from international cricket earlier in the year. In her career, she scored 3727, ODI runs, 2697 T20 runs and also took 72 ODI wickets along with an impressive 62 T20 wickets. Without the expertise of Deandra Dottin, and what we saw in the New Zealand series, it bodes the question, are the West Indies too reliant on Hayley Matthews to perform? Even if one looks at Barbados’ performances in the Commonwealth Games, it’s quick to see that Matthews again was the leading run scorer and was joint top wicket-taker with Shanika Bruce who has not yet played for the West Indies. After captaining Barbados in the Commonwealth Games 2022, Hayley Matthews took over the captaincy from Stafanie Taylor who still remains in the ODI side, 14 years since her debut.
England should win both series and ahead of the T20 World Cup in March, hosted in South Africa, this will be great preparation England and an opportunity for Jon Lewis to find his best side.
England ODI Squad
Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver, Danni Wyatt
England T20 Squad
Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt
Full Schedule
Sunday, 4 December: First ODI — Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (14:00 local time/18:00 GMT)
Tuesday, 6 December: Second ODI — Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (14:00 local time/18:00 GMT)
Friday, 9 December: Third ODI — Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (14:00 local time/18:00 GMT)
Sunday, 11 December: First IT20 — Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua (18:00 local time/22:00 GMT)
Wednesday, 14 December: Second IT20 — Kensington Oval, Barbados (18:00 local time/22:00 GMT)
Saturday, 17 December: Third IT20 — Kensington Oval, Barbados (18:00 local time/22:00 GMT)
Sunday, 18 December: Fourth IT20 — Kensington Oval, Barbados (18:00 local time/22:00 GMT)
Thursday, 22 December: Fifth IT20 — Kensington Oval, Barbados (18:00 local time/22:00 GMT)
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