England have announced their squad for the Twenty20 World Cup, and the preceding warm-up Tri-Series with India and Australia, with the return of Georgia Elwiss being the only change from the squad that recently whitewashed Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur.
Seam all-rounder Elwiss replaces left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon in the squad, with new coach Lisa Keightley citing the conditions England are likely to face in Australia:
“I thought we probably had too many spinners for what we need out in Australia, so we’ve opted for a couple of seamers over some selections with spin.”
Elwiss’ experience out in Australia was also a factor in her coming in, with Keightley saying:
“Georgia’s played in Australia in the WBBL and done really well out there. So for me she is an important inclusion into into our team, to give us options and a player who’s got experience out on Australian pitches.”
Pace bowler Freya Davies, and spinners Mady Villiers and Sarah Glenn all keep their spots in the squad, with Davies looking likely to play a big part:
“I think Freya will go pretty well,” said Keightley. “I’ll be telling her to play how she’s played, and not to go too far away from that – she’s done it in the KSL, and she’s bowled to a lot of players that play international cricket, and if she can do it there that will hold her in good stead.”
England fly out to Australia next week, with fans in England able to watch the Tri-Series on BT Sport, while the T20 World Cup will be shown by Sky.
Full Squad:
- Heather Knight (Berkshire)
- Tammy Beaumont (Kent)
- Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire)
- Kate Cross (Lancashire)
- Freya Davies (Sussex)
- Sophie Ecclestone (Lancashire)
- Georgia Elwiss (Sussex)
- Sarah Glenn (Worcestershire)
- Amy Jones (Warwickshire)
- Nat Sciver (Surrey)
- Anya Shrubsole (Berkshire)
- Mady Villiers (Essex)
- Fran Wilson (Kent)
- Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)
- Danni Wyatt (Sussex)
CRICKETher 
How many medium pace bowling options you need? Even Australia didn’t pick these many.
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Well both Brunt and Shrubsole have had plenty of injury concerns around big tournaments before (and been injury prone at times). Without them England would need another pace bowling option. So maybe they think it’s a risk. It’s a sign that the management think they’ve found their best spin-bowling trio that they can play either 1, 2 or all 3 of depending on conditions. It’s also a sign that England don’t really have any other spinners that can also bat well in the top order (except Knight and unless Wyatt is given a go).
I still feel that these 15-player squads are too small, it should be more, maybe 18. It is a shame to see no Gordon, Linsey Smith, Dunkley etc. They’ve not done a lot wrong.
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“England don’t really have any other spinners that can also bat well in the top order” – with a twist of ironic timing I think the last person to fit this criteria in T20 was Laura Marsh who opened for several matches earlier in her career.
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“England don’t really have any other spinners that can also bat well in the top order” – with an ironic twist of timing I suspect the last front line spinner to do this was Laura Marsh, who actually opened the batting in some of her earlier T20s.
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Yes, I meant since Marsh called time on her international career but she mainly batted down the order in recent years. Still useful though. There is some hope that Villiers might be able to step up as she has some potential. We’ll have to see, there’s certainly the precedent for it with plenty of former spinners turning into batsmen or all-rounders.
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I reckon she batted 32 times as an opener in T20 which was more than half of the 53 times she batted. Sadly she never batted at No11 although the scorecard suggested she would have done on a couple of occasions if more people above her had been dismissed. Rather eccentrically Edwards nearly managed the same feat being No11 against the West Indies at Arundel but not actually batting. I think Hazell has done it (ie opened and batted no 11) and so has Beaumont (not a spinner though or even a bowler)
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