The England head coach, Charlotte Edwards, has strongly hinted that she will be looking to a new generation of players to take England into the next World Cup cycle, after her side suffered a shock defeat in their semi-final against South Africa on Wednesday.
“We won’t make too many rash decisions, but we’ve got to look at the future now,” Edwards told Sky Sports. “We’ve got some unbelievable talent coming through.”
Of the current batters, openers Tammy Beaumont (34) and Amy Jones (32), former captain Heather Knight (34), and current captain Nat Sciver-Brunt (33) are all unlikely to play in another 50-over World Cup. A question mark also hangs over the 27-year-old Sophia Dunkley, whose highest score all tournament was 22. “We do need to improve our batting – I don’t think it’s been consistent enough at times,” Edwards said.
Edwards added that she was proud of the progress England had made since she took on the head coach role six months ago, but emphasised that she needed to be given time to embed changes. “I’m a winner. I don’t like losing,” she said. “But equally I knew what I took on with this role – I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fix.”
Sciver-Brunt concurred with her coach’s assessment: “We’ve come a long way since the summer. We’re a different side from then, and we’ve learned a lot about ourselves. This will hurt, but hopefully in time we’ll be able to learn from it and come back stronger.”
England’s defeat was inflicted after South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt struck 169 from 143 balls – a knock she described as her best ever in ODI cricket.
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“This has to be the top. The context of the game, a World Cup semi-final, winning the game against a very strong side – it’s right up there,” she said. “It still feels a bit unreal. It’s the thing that you dream about as a kid, scoring a hundred in a World Cup. A very special day.”
