The 2022 edition of the Women’s World Cup is scheduled to begin on 4th March 2022. Being held in New Zealand for the third time, the marquee event in the women’s calendar will consist of 31 matches culminating in the finals on April 3rd at Christchurch.
Main squad -
Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Kate Cross, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Amy Jones (wicket-keeper), Emma Lamb, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt.
Strengths:
Consistent performers
Notwithstanding their recent drubbing at the hands of Australia, the England team has been performing consistently and among the top few teams heading into the tournament. In the latest ICC Women’s Championship that served as a precursor to this tournament, they were ranked second only to Australia.
Nice mix of youth and experience
England have a handful of experienced players coupled with talented youngsters in their squad. The captain, Heather Knight, along with Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Winfield-Hill and Danielle Wyatt complement the likes of Emma Lamb and Amy Jones. Sophia Dunkley has already displayed her credentials in the middle order. Anya Shrubsole, Katherine Brunt and Sophie Ecclestone will be supported by talented youngsters like Charlie Dean, Freya Davies and Tash Farrant. Nat Sciver is also dependable with both bat and ball.
Good bowling attack
The England bowling is led by the dangerously accurate Anya Shrubsole. An experienced pace bowler, she can turn a match on its head alone as she had shown in the World Cup final of 2017. With the likes of Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Nat Sciver, Freya Davies and Tash Farrant, there are several pace bowlers to choose from, a great asset for a country like New Zealand, well-known to assist pace bowlers. Then there are also the likes of Sophie Ecclestone, one of England’s premier spinners. She can be supported by Charlie Dean as the second spinner in the XI. Heather Knight is also known to bowl regularly in ODIs and has claimed 50 wickets already.
Weakness:
Underperforming batting unit
Although England are known to many as a complete team in the women’s circuit, they are prone to underperformance of their batting. Their batting had failed miserably against Australia recently as they failed to score above 200 in any of their 3 games. Even in their earlier series against New Zealand, they had failed to reach 200 on 2 out of the 5 occasions.
Threats:
Could be affected by early losses
After their game against Australia, which they could easily lose, they face teams like West Indies, India, South Africa and New Zealand next. If they lose one or two more games out of these, their survival in the competition may be threatened.
Despite the fragile batting performance over the last few months, England are still quite formidable compared to the rest of the pack, barring Australia. They would be looking forward to another good performance in the World Cup and will look to make it to the knockout stage, which is a strong probability. Their progression to the finals could be dependent on who they face in the knockouts and how they perform.
