Sophie Ecclestone omitted from first England squad named by Charlotte Edwards
Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt are set to usher in a new era, with a new selector also appointed
Sophie Ecclestone has been omitted from England’s first squad under new head coach Charlotte Edwards, who says the spinner is “physically not quite at 100 per cent yet” after a knee injury.
Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt are set to usher in a new era in a white-ball series against the West Indies as England look to move on from their 16-0 defeat in the Women’s Ashes earlier this year.
They will do so without the world’s top-ranked bowler in both ODIs and T20s, who made her first appearance after two months on the sidelines for Lancashire in the Women’s One-Day Cup on Wednesday.
Maia Bouchier has also been left out of both squads to face the Windies after struggling in England’s humbling by Australia, which led to the removal of Jon Lewis as coach and Heather Knight as captain.
Ecclestone courted controversy on the tour after refusing a television interview with Alex Hartley, who previously called into question the England team’s conditioning levels while not singling anyone out.
England’s fitness became a central focal point Down Under but Edwards, who has referred to it as ‘the F-word’, was adamant at her unveiling she will use her own eyes to judge what she has inherited.
While Knight, as anticipated, returns to the fold as a player, Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Alice Capsey are in the squad for the three T20s only, the first of which gets under way in Canterbury next Wednesday.
Fast bowler Issy Wong has been recalled to the T20 side, having drifted out of favour under Lewis and Knight, while uncapped seamer Emily Arlott is in both squads.
Edwards, who selected the squad alongside newly appointed national selector Lydia Greenway, plus directors Clare Connor and Jonathan Finch, said: “Following her knee injury, Sophie Ecclestone is physically not quite at 100 per cent yet.
“She’s been rehabbing and working hard but she’s only just got back on the park for Lancashire so she doesn’t have enough cricket under her belt to be ready for this series.
“Maia Bouchier misses out having been a part of the Ashes series. Maia’s talent is there for all to see and the challenge to her is to go and make consistent match-winning contributions in domestic cricket.
“It’s the same for any player who’d disappointed to not be a part of these squads.”
Tammy Beaumont returns to the T20 squad and retains her ODI spot while all-rounders Freya Kemp and Danielle Gibson and quick bowler Lauren Filer were not considered for selection because of injuries.
England Women T20 squad: N Sciver-Brunt (captain), E Arlott, T Beaumont, L Bell, A Capsey, C Dean, S Dunkley, S Glenn, A Jones, H Knight, P Scholfield, L Smith, I Wong, D Wyatt-Hodge.
England Women ODI squad: N Sciver-Brunt (captain), A Davidson-Richards, E Arlott, T Beaumont, L Bell, K Cross, C Dean, S Dunkley, M Gaur, S Glenn, A Jones, H Knight, E Lamb, L Smith.