England’s women’s cricket team is going through a historic transition led by the inspirational head coach Charlotte Edwards. Following a disappointing T20 series loss to India, the team faces scrutiny as it builds toward the upcoming 50-over World Cup in India and Sri Lanka this autumn.
That challenge was brought sharply to the fore in a hugely disappointing home series against India earlier in the summer, which ended with England losing 3-1. This comes on the heels of a contentious winter. The immediate trigger was an early exit from the T20 World Cup and a 4-0 hammering in the Ashes series. Even in the face of these disappointments, Edwards is hopeful for her team’s future.
We are going to be calm. We are a team on a journey. We are a team in transition. It’s not going to happen overnight. The pressure is on, Edwards acknowledged, as England tries to lift the standard.
Ahead of the series against India, England were maddeningly difficult to pin down. They couldn’t afford to drop as many important picks, especially in key spots. Individual brilliance, like Charlie Dean’s incredible catch, showed that even in this disappointing squad, hope can be found.
“What this [T20] series has enabled us to see is the team under pressure,” – Charlotte Edwards
The quality of England’s recent performance has been made to look much better by their earlier success over the West Indies. They achieved remarkable white-ball series cleansweeps in that series. This positive momentum, unfortunately, was blunted by the incredible challenges that India faced. Edwards acknowledged India’s impressive development, attributing much of their improvement to participation in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
“This is one of the best teams in the world and where we want to aspire to get to,” Edwards noted, recognizing the formidable opponent England faced throughout the series.
If England want to be World Cup contenders, as their domestic players will be preparing for, they cannot afford these performance inconsistencies. No team has had to deal with hostile and gigantic crowds including India. Although Edwards has never coached at this level, he feels it has opened an obvious gap in performances.
“At times at The Oval it was amazing how we fought back but we haven’t been able to do it consistently enough where India have and that is why they’re 3-1 up,” – Charlotte Edwards
Edwards is determined to keep a spirit of iteration and reflection on the team. She stated, “I’m learning every single day, we’re talking and reviewing a lot. I think this is just going to take a bit longer than we’d have liked.” This theme permeates every aspect of her leadership and it’s indicative of her focus on moving England successfully through this transformative period.
Newly-appointed captain Nat Sciver-Brunt echoes Edwards’ wish of building a legacy for the team. Together, their goal is to create a supportive ecosystem where talent and grit can flourish. The next challenge will be converting all that promise into a regular product on the field.
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