England coach Mark Robinson has had some interesting decisions to make in the lead-up to the T20 series against Pakistan, which begins at the County Ground in Bristol this afternoon.

The success of Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Winfield and Nat Sciver in the ODI series – who between them scored 3/4 of England’s runs* – meant that a few others hardly got a look-in. Danni Wyatt had two innings in the series, both at the death-end, scoring 12* (off just 6 balls) at Worcester and 1 (off 3) at Taunton; whilst Amy Jones’ might as well have left her bat at home – she didn’t get a single innings. Meanwhile, Fran Wilson’s contribution has been restricted to carrying drinks.

So in the name of “building for the future” it would obviously be nice for all three to get some proper time out in the middle, in what is probably England’s easiest “least challenging” (because none of them are “easy”) series of the international cycle.

But how do you do that? Do you push Winfield down the order? Now that she at last seems to have found a role? Do you drop Elwiss for Wilson? When she just scored 77 off 78 balls at Taunton?

These aren’t simple questions to answer; even before you get to the bowling!

The injury to Shrubsole has actually made things a bit easier for Robinson. Assuming he wants to play two seamers, Farrant comes in, which gets her some overs she deserves – she is a good “containing” T20 bowler, who bowls with her brain as well as her handy left arm.

But what about the spin options? After a torrid WBBL, Laura Marsh wasn’t selected for the WWT20, but her career was thrown a lifeline when she was flown to India after all, as a replacement for the injured Dani Hazell; and she seized the opportunity, and  has performed (in the words of Heather Knight) “brilliantly” in the ODIs. So do England now drop her for Hazell?

And then there is Alex Hartley. She took some stick on commentary for her performance in the 3rd ODI – she lost her line bowling to the left-hander in her first spell, and [technical jargon warning…] it all went a bit squiffy for a couple of overs; but she was taken off and came back tighter and looking more like herself. Besides, Robinson’s “big thing” is that we don’t drop people after one bad performance; so do we now do just that and send Hartley back to the bench?

The phrase “Hobson’s choice” was coined for the situation where there is only one option. But what about the time when where there are too many options? Perhaps it should be termed “Robinson’s choice”?

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* Runs off the bat.

One of the most common criticisms we get from our readers is that we are too close to the England team to be objective and we sometimes hold back from criticising players we know personally.

It is a challenge that all journalists have to deal with, and for a “global media circus”, cricket (all cricket, not just the women’s game) is actually quite a small community, so it is a particular challenge in our sport; but the truth is that we are not that close to the players on a personal level.

Unlike the men’s journalists, we don’t stay in the same hotels 200 days a year, and while we have met most of the parents, and the odd boyfriend/ girlfriend, we wouldn’t presume to call ourselves “friends” with any current international player.

We know that some of them follow us on Twitter and read CRICKETher, which is nice; but others (at least two of the currently England team) take a different and equally valid approach – they block us!

Yes – ironically, while some readers think we are too soft on the team, the players themselves often feel like we are harsh, negative and unfair to them.

So which side are we on?

We want to celebrate the achievements of the England team, but we aren’t cheerleaders – what we really want to do is to share with our readers a bit of the insight and perspective that comes from having followed this sport for a long time, at both the domestic and international levels; and hopefully inform a bit of discussion and debate.

So we hope the answer is that we are on everybody’s side – the players, the fans, the women’s game, the wider game… even the ECB’s, believe it or not! It is a bit of a balancing act sometimes, but we’ll keep doing what we do – walking the wire, from point to point, hopefully getting somewhere, but maybe actually more importantly, enjoying the view along the way.

Pakistan

The visitors weren’t awful – they weren’t overawed, but ultimately they were overwhelmed. With the bat they preserved their wickets at the expense of scoring runs; and they lacked that little bit of professional sharpness in the field, as witnessed by the massive let-off for Tammy Beaumont when she really ought to have been run out after a horrible mix-up with her skipper when she was on 49. Are Pakistan anywhere near up there with England? No! But do they belong at this level? On the evidence of today, absolutely; and playing in these kinds of conditions now sets them up to be ready for the World Cup next year, for which they will still hope to qualify via the Qualifying Tournament.

England

England’s “Brave New World” didn’t look that brave or that new today – no new cap for Alex Hartley… and not even a game for Fran “Like A New Cap” Wilson. It is to be hoped that we see the two of them later in the ODI series, especially as ODIs rather than T20s would (you’d think) be their preferred environment. But the really important thing is that they got the victory – they aren’t 100% happy with their bowling or their fielding, and rightly so, but a win is a win!

Heather Knight

Those who know Knight won’t be surprised to find that the “burden” of captaincy has quickly affected her form in the most positive of ways. She might not be “flashy”, either as a player or an individual, but as captain at Berkshire, Hobart Hurricanes, and now England, she has stood up and taken responsibility. Bowling-wise, she might not turn it much at all, but she lands it on a spot, and when you build pressure like that, the bad shots will come and the catches will follow. With the bat, she played quite conservatively, a lot off the back foot; but if her role going forward is to anchor the team coming in at 4, that is the game she needs to play in this kind of situation. (But in another situation, she can (and would) play differently.)

Tammy Beaumont

This was TB’s best performance in an England shirt, and it really does start to look as if Robinson might have had a transformative effect on someone who has always been able to do it at county, but has consistently struggled for England. She moved her feet like Ginger Rogers and punched like Nicola Adams; but she does need to remember to play to her strengths, driving in front of the wicket – the only times she looked shaky today were when she became a bit too expansive, not least the terrible shot she got out to.

Katherine Brunt

Brunt finally got her 100th ODI wicket, something which has been weighing a little on her, because it has taken some time to move past 99; but that’s what happens when you are the best – people play you differently, and the wickets are genuinely harder to come by. So don’t panic – she isn’t struggling or losing her form – and she remains key to England’s World Cup prospects next year.