Danielle Gibson and Lauren Filer in conversation for the Western Storm. Photo credit: Western Storm via Twitter.
England have announced their squad for The Women’s Ashes ahead of the first and only test of the series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham (22-26 June). Jon Lewis has called up uncapped Lauren Filer and Dani Gibson for their first time after stellar seasons for Western Storm and their The Hundred stints.
England Women’s Ashes Test Squad:
Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Amy Jones, Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt
Lauren Filer has previously been a member of the England Academy, with the right arm seamer coming off a fine stint in the ongoing Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with 8 wickets from just 4 innings with a best of 3-60 versus the South East Stars. Filer had modest returns in the Charlotte Edwards Cup, only picking up 5 from 5 innings though striking at 19.20. She also pulled up a handy knock vs Northern Diamonds in a record breaking fixture that saw her 21 runs from 19.
“Lauren Filer is, I suppose you would call her a point-of-difference bowler, someone who bowls with more pace than probably anyone in the country and she really swings the red Dukes ball,” Lewis said. “We’ve got a good group of really young fast bowlers, however, as an old fast-bowling coach, you always approach young fast bowlers with a bit of trepidation because you’re not quite sure what they’re going to deliver.
As for Filer’s Storm colleague Dani Gibson, Jon Lewis commented that:
“Dani [Gibson] is one of the form cricketers in the country, she is improving both with bat and ball and if selected in the team, offers us a dynamic cricketer who can change the momentum of the game,” Lewis said. “Lauren is a genuine wicket-taking threat with good pace and swing. If selected in the playing XI, she offers us a point of difference in our bowling attack that could impact a Test match at any point in the game.”
Gibson has enjoyed a CE Cup campaign for the western outfit, the power hitter boasting recent innings in the Charlotte Edwards Cup of 62 (46) vs Sunrisers and 52 (30) vs Northern Diamonds. The Storm opener will also be key with the ball, snatching 8 wickets in the CE Cup and 7 in the RHFT. Her pace bowling developing over the past few years has made her an essential part of the London Spirit and Western Storm, especially towards the death.
Both inclusions come after the retirements of Katherine Sciver-Brunt and Anya Shrubsole – two mainstay pacers for England for the best part of 15 years. With other seamers in the domestic system on the rise, it’s tough competition to fill the pace bowling hole in England’s attack.
“We’ve got some really high-potential young fast bowlers, but high potential doesn’t always win stuff. We need to go out there and perform so we’ll be relying on them to do what they’ve done so far over the course of the last year when I’ve seen them.”
Lauren Bell is also called up for her second Women’s Ashes Test squad appearance, added to the England squad for the only test in last year’s Ashes down under after her performances for England A. Recently Bell has played 4 games for her Vipers side in the RHFT and 3 in the CE Cup, whipping up 6 wickets from 3 innings with a best of 3-18 versus the Western Storm where she’d removed both openers in the first over of the day.
“Primarily the hardest task is getting your fast bowlers prepared in terms of getting the amount of workload into the fast bowlers and then understanding what those fast bowlers can cope with,” Lewis said.
“Down the road from my point of view, even if you just played a couple of rounds of two-day cricket, that would be really advantageous.
“You don’t necessarily have to play three- or four-day cricket, but at the right time in the schedule, I think playing some multi-day cricket for the girls would be would be really advantageous in terms of getting players physically better prepared, but also understanding how to play the red-ball game better than they do already.”
“I think some form of multi-day cricket for our preparation to win Ashes series and win Test matches would be really useful.
Number 1 ranked Sophie Ecclestone will play as the sole frontline spinner in the test as conditions will suit the pacers much more at Trent Bridge. Alice Capsey, Emma Lamb, Sophia Dunkley and even skipper Heather Knight can provide them extra overs of spin if needed during the 5 days.
The Test squad will play Australia A in a three-day warm-up clash in Derby from this Thursday ahead of the five-day Test at Trent Bridge from June 22. It will be England Women’s first Test over five days on home soil and their first visit to Trent Bridge since 2000. Following the Test, which is worth four points in the multi-format Ashes series, the sides will play three ODIs and three T20Is.
Australia’s Ashes squad: Meg Lanning (C), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham.
