The T20 Women’s World Cup gets under way in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on the 3rd of October 2024 with the finals on the 20th of October.Englands team captained by Heather Knight are genuine contenders to lift the trophy in Sharjah as they are one of the teams that are in form. England starts against Bangladesh on Saturday, 5 October, and are favourites to finish top of their group which includes Scotland, South Africa and West Indies.
England should have plenty of confidence after going unbeaten throughout the home summer with clean sweeps against Pakistan and New Zealand.
They won 11 consecutive T20s up until the series finale against Ireland in September, where only two members of their World Cup squad were playing.
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Crucially, they have a slight mental edge over Australia, having inflicted a first T20 series defeat on the world champions since 2017 during last summer’s unforgettable Ashes.
“That was the first time we had seen England compete against them in years,” said Ebony Rainford-Brent, who was part of the 2009-World Cup winning squad.
“It showed there were some cracks and, for the first time in years, England truly believed Australia was beatable.”
A shock T20 series defeat by Sri Lanka followed, though with a few key players rested, but the past year has seen England refine their aggression under Coach Jon Lewis and they have developed a well-rounded, consistent squad.
Captain Knight, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt and wicketkeeper Amy Jones provide the experience with the bat, while the likes of Alice Capsey, Freya Kemp and Danielle Gibson could provide some explosive power-hitting – but their spin bowling is their ultimate weapon.
Sophie Ecclestone is the world’s best T20 bowler with leg-spinner Sarah Glenn ranked fourth, while Charlie Dean and Linsey Smith add other dimensions.
During the last World Cup, they were knocked out by hosts South Africa in a semi-final they were expected to win, with some inexperienced players crumbling under the weight of the occasion.
That tournament was early in head coach Lewis’ tenure, and he pinpoints this as one of his, and his team’s, biggest learning’s.
“We are still working on it, but the Australians did it to us a lot [put us under the pump] last summer and we took a massive amount of confidence from how we responded,” said Lewis.
“At that time, we weren’t particularly well-connected on the field so we’ve worked really hard on our communication.”
But while England fought back in the Ashes and have been dominant this year, there are doubts surrounding how much they have been tested, with Pakistan and New Zealand offering little threat.
BBC
