England have announced their 15-member squad for the 2023 edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in South Africa from February 10 to 26.
Heather Knight will continue to lead the side, which is placed in Group B alongside India, West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan.
22-year-old Charlie Dean, who has established herself as a mainstay of England’s ODI team over the past 15 months, retained her place in the T20I squad. She picked up 18 wickets against West Indies in last month’s ODI and T20I encounters. Alongside her impressive strike rate, Dean also boasted an astonishing economy rate of 4.64 in the West Indies T20Is, further highlighting her restrictive impact on opposition batters.
Another teenager Alice Capsey, who continues her recovery from a broken collarbone suffered on the tour of the Caribbean before Christmas, has been included in England’s Women’s T20 World Cup squad.
“It’s always exciting to name a World Cup squad, and there’s a great deal of talent in this group. We saw a lot of good things in the West Indies, a lot of progress around shifting our mindset as a team, and I’m excited to see how we take that into the challenge of a global tournament,” said Jon Lewis, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“We hope Alice is fit enough, she’s worked incredibly hard alongside the medical staff to get to this point and we’ll give her every chance, but as we saw in the Caribbean the depth of talent and skill in the squad is growing fast and winning tournaments is about everyone collectively embracing the moment and enjoying the journey,” he added.
Meanwhile, Freya Kemp – England’s breakout star of the 2022 season – got ruled out of the World Cup due to a lower back injury she sustained during the Caribbean tour.
England Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 squad
Starting 15: Heather Knight (c), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones (wk), Nat Sciver, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt
Travelling reserves: Issy Wong, Dani Gibson