Lauren Bell says ‘no one is guaranteed a place’ under Charlotte Edwards’ new regime
The England fast bowler claims head coach Charlotte Edwards has a ‘winning mentality’ ahead of the forthcoming series with India
England fast bowler Lauren Bell claimed that Charlotte Edwards has brought a ‘winning mentality’ to the dressing room and that ‘no-one’s place is safe’ since she took over from former head coach Jon Lewis.
An eight-match series against India comprised of five T20s and three One Day Internationals gets underway on Saturday at Trent Bridge.
After a great start to the tenure of both Edwards as head coach and Nat Sciver-Brunt as captain, which saw them win six out of six white ball games against the West Indies, they now have to raise the bar against India, whom they beat under the captaincy of Edwards in the 2017 World Cup final at Lord’s.
“It’s been a great start,” Bell said about the new regime. “Charlotte has this real winning mentality, and she’s come in and set these really clear goals for how we want to go about our cricket. We’re able to review a game quite objectively, rather than going off emotions.”
Edwards took on the role when Jon Lewis was sacked in March following a thrashing in the Ashes over the winter and she’s not been afraid of ringing the changes to the line-up.
“You want to put performances in because you want to get picked,” said the Hampshire bowler. “No one’s coasting anymore. No one is guaranteed a place in the starting XI. Some of the things Lottie has implemented will hopefully have a knock-on effect with how we deal with real pressure situations.”
Those pressure situations were not the team’s strength during the winter, when they were also publicly criticised by former international Alex Hartley due to their lack of fitness. Bell says people are entitled to their opinions but added: “It didn’t feel exactly why we were losing games of cricket.
“As a team, we work super hard, and fitness-wise we’re in a good place. Lottie has come in and set these minimum standards, which is good, but it shouldn't affect the majority of the team. There are many other factors to why we struggled in Australia.”
Schedule for India’s tour of England
Saturday 28th June - T20 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham (2.30pm)
Tuesday 1st July - T20 at The County Ground, Bristol (6.30pm)
Friday 4th July - T20 at The Oval, London (6.30pm)
Wednesday 9th July - T20 at Old Trafford, Manchester (6.30pm)
Saturday 12th July - T20 at Edgbaston, Birmingham (6.35pm)
Wednesday 16th July - ODI at Utilita Bowl, Southampton (1pm)
Saturday 19th July - ODI at Lord’s (11am)
Tuesday 22nd July - ODI at The Riverside, Chester-le-Street (1pm)
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