As new England head coach Charlotte Edwards’ tenure gets under way with the white-ball series at home to West Indies, we assess the pressing matters in her in-tray…
Win the most important matches
During Edwards’ 10-year reign as England captain, she guided the team to the 2009 50-over World Cup and T20 World Cup titles as well as three Ashes series victories outright.
In the nine years since she moved on from that role and into retirement, England have lost the ability to win the big one, except for the 2017 World Cup on home soil, and deal with pressure.
The 16-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia this winter was hard to stomach but so were the exits at the previous two T20 World Cups, in South Africa and the UAE respectively.
England were whitewashed 16-0 by Australia in the Women’s Ashes this winter
In 2023, England lost in the semi-finals to South Africa after bungling a run chase, while a year later they capitulated against West Indies, dropping a series of catches and being dumped out in the group stage with then-skipper Heather Knight off the park injured.
Plus, it’s not just in The Ashes – a series England have not won in over a decade – where the team have fallen short against Australia. Add in, too, the 2018 T20 World Cup final and 2022 50-over World Cup final. It’s a narrative serial-winner Edwards must alter.
Win back the fans’ trust and alter perceptions
England bowler Kate Cross feels fans may have been lost after the Ashes debacle, which, around the dreadful results, included star spinner Sophie Ecclestone refusing an interview with Alex Hartley following previous comments about the team’s fitness.
There were also the possibly ill-advised images from last year’s T20 World Cup of players on a boat party in Dubai. Under Edwards, social media use may tighten up.
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Edwards, speaking at her unveiling earlier this year, says she is aiming to ‘find the blueprint’ to help the team win major events
She said: “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’ve got to stop putting stuff on social media that doesn’t need to be there. If it’s not going to positively reflect on them or us as a group, it probably is not worth 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 awareness” is what is needed most.
Nat Sciver-Brunt has succeeded Heather Knight as England captain
Find the next captain
While Knight’s successor as captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, may have been the outstanding candidate, she was, in truth, the only candidate. That is a rather damning indictment of England’s succession planning and something they will try to avoid repeating.
At 32, Sciver-Brunt is unlikely to be a decade-long skipper in the way Edwards was and Knight came close to being, so training up her eventual replacement – Ecclestone, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean and Grace Scrivens may be options – should be on the agenda.
England’s Charlie Dean may be a contender to replace Nat Sciver-Brunt as captain in the years ahead
Whether that is through exposure to captaincy in domestic and England A cricket, being part of the leadership group with the national team or even stepping in for Sciver-Brunt if she ever needs a break or to manage her workload, thinking ahead would be wise.
It was a peculiar decision to see a largely youthful group that toured Ireland last September while the first team prepared for the T20 World Cup led by 33-year-old Cross rather than a viable long-term England skipper.
Find some left-handers
Edwards has made it clear players will be selected on performance and not necessarily because they provide a point of difference by bowling left-arm seam, for example.
Batting-wise, though, England’s top and upper middle order has been a right-hand monopoly for some time now, so finding a left-hander or two, just to give opposition bowlers something different to think about, may be of huge benefit.
Grace Scrivens could solve England’s lack of left-handers
Essex captain and former England U19 skipper Scrivens perhaps heads that queue with the 21-year-old long earmarked as an international of the future, while the experienced Eve Jones, now 32, has begun the Metro Bank One Day Cup season in fine form.
Further down the order, England appear to have a left-hander to count on in Freya Kemp, provided she is over the injury issues that have blighted her young career to date.
England have been crying out for a game-changing all-rounder at No 7 for some time, one capable of bowling a heavy quota of overs and contributing significantly with the bat, and Kemp may be the answer.
England Women’s summer fixtures
All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports
T20 international series vs West Indies (May)
- First T20: Wednesday May 21 (6.30pm) – Canterbury
- Second T20: Friday May 23 (6.35pm) – Hove
- Third T20: Monday May 26 (2.30pm) – Chelmsford
One-day international series vs West Indies (May-June)
- First ODI: Friday May 30 (1pm) – Derby
- Second ODI: Wednesday June 4 (1pm) – Leicester
- Third ODI: Saturday June 7 (11am) – Taunton
T20 international series 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 Old Trafford
- Fifth T20: Saturday July 12 (6.35pm) – Edgbaston
One-day international series 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-Street
