England women’s T20 series starts against India tomorrow at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. England skipper, Heather Knight, spoke to the media ahead of the testing series.
A series away in India
Facing India in India is one of the greatest challenges in cricket and with the Indian side growing stronger, it will be an even tougher challenger for the visitors.
“We've had some really good T20 games against them. I think they got some well players I've seen in home conditions there. They're gonna be tough,” she said.
“We've had quite a quick turnaround so getting used to the conditions have to be accelerated a little bit in terms of how we do that and really over communicating around how we play, how we are going to take runs”.
Huge crowds are expected with Indian fans being known for their passion and support for the game. “I think sometimes you can feel like things are accelerated a bit rushed actually when there's crowd and you feel like the games happening quite quickly so we've talked a lot about trying to get our own pace and trying to sort of maintain our concentration in the moment and try to focus on what we've got to do and I think trying to silence the crowd will be tougher” Knight explained.
“I think watching the Men's World Cup as well, you see the support and the passion that Indian fans have for, for India and it's a hard thing to do to silence the crowd and even if there's not as many in there, they’re usually very, very loud.”
A highly anticipated Test Match
After playing three IT20s, England will face India in a four-day test match, still in Mumbai. Having drew back in 2021 in Bristol, England will be searching for a win. “It's going to be a huge challenge. I'm really excited to play a Test match here in India, it’s one of those bucket list things as a cricketer that you want to do,” she said.
“As soon as I found out that that's going to be the case, we were gonna play test here, I was super excited. It's going to be a challenge but it's something we're not shying away from in terms of the preparation.”
It will be a rapid turn around with minimal days between the IT20 series and the Test Match. “That can create a little bit of anxiety around not feeling ready” Knight explained.
“We've talked a lot about having the right mindset for that and getting your head right and knowing exactly how you want to approach Test match cricket, how you want to play and not thinking too much ahead about conditions and pre planning what might happen.”
During England’s Ashes summer, a five-day test was played, rather than the standard four-day test in women’s cricket. However, in India, England will revert to the four-day test again. “We're more used to playing four days than five days,” said Knight.
“I think the five-day test was a real success back home. It meant the game was allowed to play out rather than both teams coming to try and accelerate things and force things a little bit. Look it's four days so we've got to try and find a way to win that test match and that's exactly what we're trying to do. Everything that we do over those four days will be about trying to set the game up to try and win it.”
Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone fully fit
England have been strengthened by the return of Sophie Ecclestone after shoulder surgery and Nat Sciver-Brunt following issues with her knee. “She's [Sophie Ecclestone] doing really well. She's back bowling. I think bowling won't be an issue. Probably feeling very bit of nervousness and I’ve had injuries myself before, it's always the sort of getting over trusting your body again, but I think in the heat of the battle she should be able to get over that.”
“She's [Nat Sciver-Brunt] good. She also bowled in the WBBL and she's in a really good place with us so she'll play a full part.”
New contracts “really beneficial”
The ECB announced the England Women’s Central Contrasts for 2023/24 with Maia Bouchier and Dani Gibson earning their first ones. Lauren Filer, Bess heath and Mahika Gaur were also awarded development contracts after breaking into the side last summer.
“I think the support that we have in terms of staff now is brilliant as well. There's been a few new additions in in the pathway I think, which will be really beneficial for that tier below to try and build our strength and depth and with a huge amount of cricket next year, I think that's going to be really important for us.”
“I think those development contracts have been around in the men's game for a long time and there's obviously a couple of players that they've received those. There's always room for improvement, of course but in terms of the provision and the support for us as cricketers to maximise our potential and I think it's really in really good.”
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