Archive September 29, 2025

A summer of soul-searching for England women was born out of a winter of turbulence.

South Africa’s humiliating defeat in the T20 World Cup group stage was avenged for a disastrous exit, only for a major implosion down under as Australia suffered a 16-0 defeat in the multi-format series.

With the departure of Charlotte Edwards and Jon Lewis and Heather Knight, things had to change.

They thrashed West Indies in their first series, but fans and media who had previously seen this story before did it with a shrug. The Indian team’s struggles resisted more than just a quick fix, as evidenced by the T20 and one-day international series defeats that followed.

They are now about to re-enter the pressure cooker.

Australia, the defending champion, are unquestionably the favorites, while India, who have improved steadily over the past two years, are the closest competitors, especially on their own soil.

Despite their inconsistencies, England face South Africa in a tricky match on October 3rd, which is a difficult match for them to take lightly.

However, it’s unlikely that Edwards’ side has ever been subjected to this level of scrutiny before given the increased investment in the women’s game and its ever-expanding professionalism.

The players’ potential is never in doubt; it’s just how strong they are under pressure.

They were subjected to a lot of scrutiny in the media following the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, but it appeared as though they were unaware of what might come if the same issues arise during this World Cup.

These issues include how they handle pressure situations or must-win situations, as well as their batting weakness against spin and a pressing need to improve their fielding.

There is little chance that England will win this tournament given the changes and harm caused by the Ashes, but how they play and have they learned from mistakes will determine how much the fallout will be.

There will be no urgency to go back to the drawing board if they are simply outplayed by a better side, which is most likely India or Australia, but if there is little improvement in those areas, Edwards and Sciver-Brunt will face criticism.

With three group-stage defeats and a final result, the 50-over World Cup in 2022 overcame many of the flaws.

Sciver-Brunt’s all-around performances will help determine England’s fortunes, as well as supporting her first tournament as head coach.

She will at least have the support of Knight’s return from injury, giving them more stability and maturity in the middle order than they did this summer when they faced India. She is their sole savior with the bat.

Given the weakness of the bowling attack, it was difficult to overtake Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont from their back-to-back stands of more than 200 against West Indies, but Edwards made no mistake by switching England’s opening partnership.

With a stand of 54 sandwiched between eight and seven partnerships, they were much less convincing against a superior India.

Only Knight, Beaumont, and Danni Wyatt-Hodge have 10 or more ODIs to their name in India, but England are more familiar with the circumstances from the Women’s Premier League, a T20 franchise competition.

Since Sciver-Brunt hasn’t bowled since the Ashes because of an Achilles issue, much will depend on how many overs they can deliver.

Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer, Em Arlott, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith, and world number one Sophie Ecclestone are left as the quicks and Sarah Glenn, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith, and world number one Sophie Ecclestone are the spinners, according to Edwards’ bold decision to omit the experienced Kate Cross from the squad.

Bell has quickly become one of the first names to appear on the England team sheet over the past two years, but there are still many unknowns about the conditions in both India and Sri Lanka, where their group matches are scheduled to take place at four different locations.

England could find themselves with a seamer light or lacking in Cross’ experience if the surfaces lack the required amount of spin, with Arlott and Filer still looking for consistency in international cricket, especially in the early stages.

The three-match series between India and Australia, which came before the World Cup, provided exactly that if England and the rest wanted to assess their current state in order to compete.

Before India showed what they can do best by crushing the world champions’ heaviest ODI defeat in the second, Australia won 2-1 and claimed a convincing victory in the series opener.

The decider was a record-breaking run-fest, with Smriti Mandhana’s 125 from 63 balls making the highlight, with Australia scoring 412 and India scoring 369.

Delhi, which does not host any of the tournament’s games, may serve as an example of what is to come.

Despite the encouraging signs of runs for Sciver-Brunt, Alice Capsey, Emma Lamb, and Sophia Dunkley, it’s unlikely that Edwards or any other member of the team will become complacent from the defeat that England have since won both warm-up games.

Edwards cited England’s intelligence, long batting, and confidence in their game plan as saying. They might achieve all of the above, but it won’t be enough to defeat two teams that appear determined to raise the bar for women’s cricket.

England women’s winter of turbulence led them to a summer of soul searching.

A disastrous T20 World Cup group-stage exit at the hands of West Indies was glossed over by beating South Africa away, only for a full-scale implosion down under as Australia inflicted a 16-0 defeat in the multi-format series.

Change was inevitable: Jon Lewis and Heather Knight out, Charlotte Edwards and Nat Sciver-Brunt were quickly ushered in.

In their first series together, they thrashed West Indies but it was merely met with a shrug of the shoulders from fans and media who had seen this narrative before. The subsequent T20 and one-day international series defeats by India showed the team’s struggles needed more than just a quick fix.

Now, they are about to enter the pressure cooker again.

Considering the inequalities that exist in women’s cricket between Australia, India, England and the rest, Edwards’ side should still be in the conversation as contenders to reach the final, and a semi-final spot should be the minimum expectation – as the coach herself admitted the day before the tournament opener.

Defending champions Australia are undoubtedly the favourites, while India’s rapid improvement over the last two years sees them as the closest challengers, especially on home soil.

England start their campaign with a tricky fixture on 3 October against South Africa, who they cannot take lightly despite their inconsistency.

For Edwards’ side though, considering the increased investment in the women’s game and its ever-growing professionalism, it is unlikely they have entered a tournament under this level of scrutiny before.

It has never been a question of the players’ potential – it is whether they can handle the pressure.

After the T20 World Cup and the Ashes, they faced heavy media scrutiny regarding their attitude on and off the field and this seemed to catch them by surprise, but they can be under no illusions about what will come if the same problems surface during this World Cup.

These problems include their batting weakness against spin, a drastic need to improve their fielding and how they cope with pressure situations or must-win moments.

Considering all the changes and the damage inflicted from the Ashes, there is little expectation for England to win this tournament – but the extent of the fallout if they don’t will depend on how they play and whether they have learned from previous mistakes.

If they are knocked out by simply being outplayed by a better side – most likely India or Australia – there will be no urgency to go back to the drawing board, but if there is little improvement in those areas, Edwards and Sciver-Brunt will come under fire.

The last 50-over World Cup in 2022 papered over a lot of the cracks as they lost three group-stage matches but still reached the final.

As well as bearing the pressure of her first tournament in charge, Sciver-Brunt’s all-round performances will also go a long way to deciding England’s fortunes.

So often, she is their sole saviour with the bat but she will at least have the comfort of Knight’s return from injury, providing extra stability and maturity in the middle order which they lacked against India this summer.

Edwards wasted no time in changing England’s opening partnership, reinstating Amy Jones with Tammy Beaumont, but again it was difficult to take too much from their back-to-back stands of more than 200 against West Indies considering the weakness of the bowling attack.

They were far less convincing against a superior India, with a stand of 54 sandwiched between partnerships of eight and seven.

England are also very inexperienced in India as only Knight, Beaumont and Danni Wyatt-Hodge have 10 or more ODIs to their name here – though they are more familiar with the conditions from the Women’s Premier League, a T20 franchise tournament.

In terms of the bowling, much will also depend on how many overs Sciver-Brunt can deliver, having not bowled since the Ashes because of an Achilles problem.

Edwards made the bold call to omit the experienced Kate Cross from the squad, which leaves Lauren Bell, Lauren Filer and Em Arlott as the quicks and Sarah Glenn, Charlie Dean, Linsey Smith and world number one Sophie Ecclestone as the spinners.

Bell has quickly become one of the first names on the England team sheet over the past two years, but there are still a lot of unknowns about the surfaces in India and Sri Lanka, with their group games due to be played at four different venues.

If the surfaces do not offer much spin, especially in the early stages, England could find themselves a seamer light or lacking Cross’ experience, with Arlott and Filer still searching for consistency in international cricket.

If England and the rest wanted to look at where they need to be in order to become contenders, the three-match series between India and Australia which preceded the World Cup provided just that.

Australia won 2-1 and claimed a convincing win in the series opener before India showed exactly what they are capable of at their best by inflicting the world champions’ heaviest ODI defeat in the second.

The decider was a record-breaking run-fest, with Australia scoring 412 and India giving the chase a real go, eventually bowled out for 369 with Smriti Mandhana’s 125 from 63 balls the highlight.

That game was in Delhi, which is not hosting any games of this tournament, but could be an indication of what is to come.

England have since beaten both teams in their warm-up fixtures, though it is unlikely Edwards or any of the side will become complacent from that, despite the encouraging signs of runs for Sciver-Brunt, Alice Capsey, Emma Lamb and Sophia Dunkley.

Edwards spoke of England being smarter, of batting long and having confidence in their game plan. It could be they achieve all of the above but it is still not enough to topple two teams that seem intent on taking women’s cricket to new levels.

Scotland may have only played 20 days ago, but Steve Clarke is already clattering together his squad for the next two crucial World Cup qualifiers.

The Scots, who sit second in Group C on goal difference after opening their campaign with an away draw to Denmark and a win against Belarus in Hungary, continue their pursuit of qualification for a first World Cup since 1998 with a home double-header against Greece and Belarus next month – live on the BBC.

The short and sweet schedule – the last qualifying window is in November – suggests there will be few fresh faces among the squad the ever-loyal head coach will announce on Tuesday.

But even so soon after naming his last crop of players, he has some key questions to wrestle with.

Let’s get the troubling position out the way, first.

Though Angus Gunn kept back-to-back clean sheets on his return between the Scotland sticks earlier this month, the shotstopper has not had a sniff at new club Nottingham Forest in the meantime.

He’s only been named on the bench once – in the late League Cup win against Swansea – since 31 August, and has yet to catch even the peripheral vision of new manager Ange Postecoglou.

The good news for Gunn – perhaps not Clarke and the rest of the country – though, is no other goalkeeper is staking a claim to start.

Zander Clark hasn’t featured for Hearts since joining 29-year-old Gunn on the plane earlier this month, while Rangers’ Liam Kelly has only played against Alloa Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup this campaign.

The most recent call-up playing regular football is League Two Barnet’s Cieran Slicker.

It may be too soon to mention his name, following his horror Hampden debut, but Slicker has started nine league games, and recently saved two penalties in one afternoon against Crewe Alexandra.

Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Bain came in for a bounty of praise, despite their 3-0 defeat by Hearts on Saturday. If not for the former Celtic benchwarmer, John McGlynn’s side would have been on the end of a mauling.

The last of his three caps came more than six years ago in a 2-0 win over San Marino – Alex McLeish’s last game in charge before the Clarke era commenced.

Clarke initially named 10 defenders in his squad for the campaign openers before Celtic pair Anthony Ralston and Kieran Tierney withdrew on the eve of the Copenhagen contest.

Sassuolo’s Josh Doig was called up in their absence, and the bullish backline did not suffer from one less body.

Tierney is likely to be named again, given he managed 82 minutes in the Europa League away to Red Star Belgrade after a first – and only – 90-minute outing against Partick Thistle three days before. But Ralston only made his return from injury in the goalless draw with Hibernian at the weekend.

Thankfully for Clarke, Aaron Hickey – who impressed immensely in both games on his international return – has continued to build on that at Brentford and made his first Premier League start in 700 days in the weekend win against Manchester United.

In short, no.

And the Tartan Army would revolt if the Bournemouth man was not named on Tuesday.

Since putting in a man of the match performance against Belarus in his first start for Scotland since November 2024, the former Liverpool winger has only seen 17 minutes of Premier League action.

If you haven’t heard that Oliver Burke became the first Scotsman to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga, then where have you been?

One of Scotland’s forgotten men achieved the feat for Union Berlin against Eintracht Frankfurt on 21 September, and since then, the clamour to get him back in a dark blue jersey has been significant.

The 28-year-old made his international debut as an 18-year-old in 2016, but picked up the last of his 13 caps against Israel in 2020.

“The Bundesliga is so strong, it’s so technical and for him to score a hat-trick, it’s a massive confidence boost,” Lambert told BBC Scotland last week.

“Now he has to do it consistently. That’s the key.

“If he does that, then Stevie can’t really ignore him.”

Becoming the highest scorer in the SPFL era – with his 163rd goal across all divisions since the league’s formation in 2013 – offered another opportunity for Lawrence Shankland to be showered in praise.

An impressive feat no doubt, but unfortunately for the Hearts captain, Clarke doesn’t come across as the kind who gets caught up in such statistics.

He does, though, like a goal scorer and Shankland has found his shooting boots again after a barren spell last campaign.

His record-breaking strike against Falkirk followed a double at Ibrox and his tally for the season sits at seven already.

Another issue for the 30-year-old is the form of his fellow international strikers.

Clarke is always calling on his tried and tested in Lyndon Dykes and Che Adams – who has four goals in his past three games for Scotland – which doesn’t leave much room for the herd of runners and riders.

In an otherwise happy camp, there was plenty hysteria back home when Kieron Bowie wasn’t brought on against Belarus especially, so it appears unlikely the powerful Hibs forward will fall out, while George Hirst – who made a cameo in Copenhagen – has two goals in his past two games for Ipswich.

And of course, there’s Tommy Conway who is coming in for all sorts of compliments for his Middlesbrough performances.