England women's head coach Jon Lewis urges players to keep up with world-class stars
May 30, 2024
London [UK], May 30 : England women's head coach Jon Lewis has praised Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone as "two of the best cricketers in the world" and noted that the many other members of the squad have a tough act to follow as they prepare for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.
Lewis insisted that the team was "tracking really well" after winning all five of their completed matches in the 20- and 50-over formats, but acknowledged that there were still a number of unresolved issues ahead of New Zealand's visit next month, particularly in the batting department.
"We came into both series as really firm favourites. With due respect to Pakistan, they were a team we should beat. We played some good cricket at times, we were unconvincing at times, but today was a very convincing victory," Lewis said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
A remarkable performance by Sciver-Brunt, whose eleventh ODI century helped England's total surpass 300, and her two middle-order wickets destroyed any chance of Pakistan rallying from a sluggish start in their powerplay, added to the convincing effect. The difference between the two sides was obvious by the time Ecclestone took three late wickets, including her 100th in ODIs, and swept through the tail.
"Sophie very, very rarely bowls poorly. I've not seen anyone get the better of her yet. We've got two of the best cricketers in the world playing in our team, which is a really fantastic thing for us as a cricket team," Lewis said.
While it's a good problem to have, Lewis understood that the other players in England's lineup also needed to step up to counteract the off days that can happen to even the most reliable of batters. Despite the ODI series being shortened, Sciver-Brunt's century was the only instance in which a batter made it past fifty in the series; Danni Wyatt's 87 in the T20I leg was also noteworthy.
"They've got a tough act to follow, but they are tracking really well. We've got a really talented group of young cricketers that we're trying to develop. Would I like more consistent performance from our more senior players? For sure. But the competition between the players in the squad is really fierce. Our training sessions are really competitive. I'm really excited about where this group could go, but there's always room for us to improve," Lewis said of the rest of England's batting line-up.
