Home CRICKET Alice Capsey omitted from T20Is as England name South Africa tour teams

Alice Capsey omitted from T20Is as England name South Africa tour teams

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Alice Capsey paid the price for England’s disastrous performance in last month’s T20 World Cup after being excluded from the T20I leg of their upcoming tour of South Africa.

Capsey, who made her England debut as a 17-year-old in 2022, is considered one of the brightest talents in the women’s game but is in the midst of a prolonged slump in form. She achieved a top score of 19 in three innings in the World Cup and has since made a further 27 runs in five innings for Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash League.

All-rounder Paige Scholfield, who made her Ireland debut in September, earned a call-up for the T20I leg of the multi-format tour, along with fast bowler Lauren Filer, who was overlooked for the World Cup campaign due to perceived conditions, and has been named in all three teams for the multi-format tour. Dani Gibson is out after undergoing knee surgery following an injury suffered during the World Cup.

The tour will include a first women’s Test in South Africa since 2002, in which Freya Kemp and Maia Bouchier could be the featured debutants. Heather Knight retains her captaincy role in all formats as she returned to action in the Big Bash this month, following the ligament injury that prevented her from leading the field during the tournament-ending six-wicket loss to the West Indies in Dubai.

The tour is seen as a vital opportunity for England to reset their ambitions against a team that has now reached each of the last two T20 World Cup finals.

Selected players, minus those currently competing in the Big Bash, have been training at Loughborough in preparation for the series, with the T20I team leaving for South Africa on November 16, followed by the ODI and Test teams in November. 27.

Knight’s team had entered the World Cup as one of the leading contenders after an unbeaten summer at home, but came under intense criticism after their early exit, most notably from former World Cup winner turned on commentator, Alex Hartley, who called to question the team’s fitness levels.

In an interview with The cricketer This week, however, England head coach Jon Lewis responded to that suggestion.

“We work incredibly hard on our physical preparation, the players are in very good shape. We individualize very well around people’s programs.

“I wish Alex in particular would quantify exactly what she means by that, because I just don’t see it. She needs to be more specific about what she’s saying. There are many parts to fitness, and you have to be specific.” Be careful when calling an ineligible team – we are not an ineligible cricket team.

“I’ve seen the team training at Loughborough and we’re making progress across the board. There are a lot of different parts of fitness. It was a very broad statement and I don’t agree at all with what he said. I’m more than happy to chat to her about it and be more specific.”

While important in itself, the tour of South Africa is seen as a vital stage for England ahead of their next key target, the Women’s Ashes in Australia in January.

“We have an incredible next six months ahead of us,” Clare Connor, ECB vice-president and former women’s captain, said at Lord’s last week. “Going to South Africa is a really good next experience. It’s also multi-format, so it’s another warm-up tour, in a way, in terms of experiences for the Ashes.”

Connor also addressed the intense scrutiny the players had been under after the World Cup, and the feeling that they had collapsed under the pressure, particularly in a key period on the pitch following Knight’s injury in Dubai.

“We welcome the same degree of scrutiny on performance as an England men’s team, or equivalent, but the learning curve is steep,” Connor said.

“It’s fascinating from a performance perspective that we came into that tournament the way we did, and New Zealand came into that tournament with 10 consecutive losses and won it.

“It’s tremendously disappointing that we didn’t get to the semi-finals. But obviously we’ll see how we develop that resilience to pressure, and decision-making and skill retention under pressure. Because, for 45 minutes, we managed to lose our skills and our path.”

England Women T20I Squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Paige Scholfield, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt- hodge

England Women’s ODI Team: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt- hodge

England Women’s Test Match Team: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge



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