ODI and T20 Squads to tour West Indies
This is Jon Lewis’ first tour in charge, but his appointment came too late for him to make the selections. Nonetheless he declares himself very satisfied with the two picks.
Both squads add up to fifteen, with four players specialising in the ODIs: Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards and Emma Lamb; plus four restricted to the shorter format: Katherine Brunt, Sarah Glenn, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Issy Wong.
The big news is the return to fitness of the skipper, Heather Knight, and the return to service of Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver. They will bring both welcome experience to the touring party and the ability to take games away from the opposition through their skills.
Beaumont can begin her return to form after a distinctly modest showing in the recently completed Big Bash League.
LW-H thoroughly deserves her recall after putting together some fine batting performances at home through the summer and in Australia.
Lamb and Glenn have to split their spinning duties, though these must have been tricky calls.
Smith explains that Brunt’s efforts will be carefully monitored, as he looks forward to the Women’s T20 World Cup in Cape Town in February.
This brings up a matter I have touched on before: how much longer do England need to rely on this outstanding bowler? Isn’t it high time that one or another of the younger generation (Davies, Bell, Wong) really stepped up to put her place in peril? I exclude Kemp as her career has barely begun. She shows the greatest promise.
AD-R is the one non-contracted player to make the ODI team. You might call her a neat Kent replacement for the contracted Tash Farrant who is recovering from a serious back injury.
Back to the Bash
English batters were hard to spot on the run-scoring charts down under. Capsey (12th), LW-H (23rd) and Wyatt (24th) the best the nation could manage. Even allowing for the absence of Knight and Sciver, this demonstrates that there is room for improvement in the T20 format.
On the bowling front the Australian franchises weren’t desperately keen to call up England’s best.
Ecclestone came in at 8th, which may disappoint her as well as her fans; the only other English name in the top 30 was Capsey again, at 30th! At least Ecclestone, on her first appearance at this most glamorous of shows, was the highest placed overseas bowler.
West Indies
The West Indies have yet to name their squad(s), but history tells us that much will depend on their leading lights, Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews. Or, to put it the other way round, it’s high time the Caribbean unearthed some real star potential among the younger generation.
In their most recent outing in October, they hosted New Zealand.
NZ won the ODIs 2-1 and the T20s 4-1. These included some desperately close-run affairs: a 1-run win for WI and a tie which NZ won in a 1-over eliminator. That should get the crowds rolling in!
The England ODI Squad
Heather Knight (Western Storm, captain), Tammy Beaumont (Blaze), Lauren Bell* (Southern Vipers), Alice Capsey* (South East Stars), Kate Cross (Thunder), Alice Davidson-Richards (South East Stars), Freya Davies (South East Stars), Charlie Dean* (Southern Vipers), Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars), Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder), Amy Jones (Central Sparks), Freya Kemp* (Southern Vipers), Emma Lamb* (Thunder), Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds), Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)
The IT20 Squad
Heather Knight (Western Storm, captain), Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers), Katherine Brunt (Northern Diamonds), Alice Capsey (South East Stars), Freya Davies (South East Stars), Charlie Dean (Southern Vipers), Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars), Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder), Sarah Glenn (Central Sparks), Amy Jones (Central Sparks), Freya Kemp (Southern Vipers), Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds), Lauren Winfield-Hill (Northern Diamonds), Issy Wong* (Central Sparks), Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)
*awarded first contracts
Currently England rank 3rd and West Indies 6th in ODIs. In T20s England lie 2nd, Windies 6th.
If England’s professed aim is still to outgun the Aussies, they still need a lot more practice on the shooting-range.
Schedule in Brief:
The three ODI start on 4 December in Antigua; the five T20s start on 11 December: the first again in Antigua, the rest in Barbados.
The T20s will count towards the ICC Women’s Championship, 2 points each.
