All too familiar as England crumbles when it matters most, England drop five catches as Windies knock them out of T20 World Cup at the Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai.
Most notably in the field, they crumbled under the weight of expectation – the five dropped catches will take the headlines, but the way their heads dropped so quickly in the face of West Indies’ batting aggression was concerning.
But more so, is the fact that this is not the first time.
Against South Africa in 2023 the body language similarly slumped after things did not go to plan and on the field they looked like 11 individuals rather than one team.
“Cricket – West Indies beat England to send them out of WWC T 20. ”
The same happened in Dubai, despite coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight’s insistence that England have got smarter, have adapted their desire for attacking cricket to suit various situations, and have improved their on-field communication.
It is harsh to attribute the 2023 result to Lewis, who was very early in his tenure, and it is harsh to attribute this one to Knight, who was not on the field for the second innings because of a calf injury.
But England are the second-best team in the world behind Australia, with a vastly improved domestic system and The Hundred boosting their player stocks and chances to play in high-pressure situations.
Of course, T20 cricket is unpredictable and in a 10-team competition with net run-rate playing such a crucial part, the brutal format can see a team knocked out by just one defeat, as England have learned.
Still, for England, anything less than a semi-final is a disappointment, a group-stage exit even more unprecedented – especially against a team they have beat in 13 successive T20s and have much less investment and resources.
After an unbeaten home summer and a thrilling Ashes series last year which saw England beat world champions Australia in both white-ball formats, Knight’s side should have been brimming with confidence and in their first three games they rightfully played in that manner.
Again, though, they have fallen short the minute that intensity has been applied. They have talked the talk, but could not walk the walk.
Lewis has hammered home his positive intent for the past 18 months and how he wants England to take teams on with their aggression, and it has largely worked.
Their dominance over Pakistan and New Zealand this summer was so one-sided it was sometimes difficult to watch and led to a lack of pressure being applied to England.
The Ashes fightback last summer provided one of the great sporting narratives with huge crowds at Edgbaston, Lord’s and The Oval.
Their batters attack the powerplay, Nat Sciver-Brunt is ruthlessly consistent in the middle order with her 360 scoring and they boast three of the best spinners in the world to tie batting opposition in knots.
Perhaps the frustrating thing is that during the Ashes, against the world’s best, they handled the occasion brilliantly and caught Australia off guard with their confidence.
In Dubai, their first-innings 141 felt like enough without quite dealing a hammer blow. Only Sciver-Brunt and, agonisingly Knight before her injury, looked fluent as the early jitters were understandably on show and in the end only 13 boundaries were scored. West Indies struck 22 in two fewer overs.
But, it was definitely a defendable total and it was a huge opportunity missed by England because of the dropped catches that seemed to be as contagious as the back-to-school germs in early September. In the end, West Indies played England at their own game.
Lewis commented on his disappointment at players “drifting from the energy and tempo we play at”. Hayley Matthews sent the early warning by taking 14 from Lauren Bell’s opening over, and Qiana Joseph followed her lead.
It was streaky, it was often reckless, it was not always pretty – but it worked. England made her job a lot easier with drops on six, 31, 35, 42 and 52 – which was her eventual score as Wyatt-Hodge eventually clung on to one – but her simple approach of “just keep swinging” had England rattled and they could not respond quickly enough.
“You just feel like the pressure simply got to them. But the way West Indies came out from the start with that intent, they looked stunned,” said England bowler Tash Farrant on BBC Test Match Special.
BBC
