London, Aug 16: England women’s team head coach Charlotte Edwards believes that her side’s white-ball series defeats against India weren’t a ‘reality check’ and they are prepared to beat any team ahead of next month’s ODI World Cup.After a dominant start to the summer with a convincing series win over a weakened West Indies in her debut as head coach, England stumbled against India, losing the T20I series 3-2 and the ODIs 2-1. India, co-hosts of the upcoming World Cup with Sri Lanka, exposed some key weaknesses in the English side who were without seasoned batter Heather Knight and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt sat out the final two T20Is due to injury.
However, questions continue to be raised about the team’s fielding standards and their ability to handle high-pressure situations. “We were massively challenged (against India) and that’s how we want women’s cricket to be,” Edwards told the BBC Stumped podcast recently.
“It wasn’t a reality check. We know we can beat India. We are going into a World Cup where we know if we play our best, we can beat any team,” she added.
Former England captain Edwards pledged to shift the team’s mindset and public image, aiming to address concerns that surfaced after the Ashes. Much of the criticism at the time centered around a perceived complacency, a lack of accountability under pressure, and a team culture that prioritised freedom but seemingly allowed fitness and fielding standards to decline.
“It is something we are working on, we know we have that tag now. Sometimes I get frustrated because we can drop one catch and we are labelled a bad fielding team, even though we have fielded really well otherwise. I am confident we can get to a place where people are talking really positively about our fielding,” she said.