Danni Wyatt-Hodge says that England are ready to park the criticism that followed their early exit from the T20 World Cup, and renew their focus on the “fearless” brand of cricket that went missing at the crucial moments of their decisive group-stage defeat to West Indies in Dubai last month.
Speaking in the lead-up to Sunday’s first T20I against World Cup runners-up South Africa in East London, Wyatt-Hodge insisted that England had not “become a bad side in eight overs”, after an error-strewn performance in the field had allowed West Indies’ Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph to romp to fast-paced fifties, en route to a place in the semi-finals at England’s expense.
England’s poor performance drew an unprecedented reaction in the media, not least from the former World Cup winner Alex Hartley, who called into question the players’ fitness levels – a point that was flatly rejected last week by their head coach, Jon Lewis. However, Wyatt-Hodge acknowledged that heightened scrutiny was an inevitable consequence of the growth of the women’s game.
“That’s part of the game now isn’t it?” she said. “We put ourselves out there, people can say what they want, but all that matters is in our circle, and we’re all working really hard every day in training and games. We want to keep improving individually and as a team. And people are entitled to say what they want out of this group. That’s fine. We know what’s going on, so that’s all that matters.
“We’ve played some outstanding cricket over the last few years, and we played some great cricket throughout the World Cup as well,” she added. “And we’re all here now in South Africa, and we’re really excited to get going. We just want to focus on playing that fearless brand of cricket that we’ve played over the last couple of years, and just enjoy it.”
South Africa went on to defeat West Indies in their semi-final, before losing to New Zealand in their second consecutive appearance in the T20 World Cup final. Wyatt-Hodge acknowledged that they would pose another stiff challenge to her team, even though they have chosen to rest two senior players, Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, at this early juncture of their multi-format series.
“They’ve got a few youngsters in their squad, so we’re not going to be familiar with some of their bowlers,” Wyatt-Hodge said, with Eliz-Mari Marx and Nondumiso Shangase among the unfamiliar names.
“We’re going to sit down and have a look at what they do, but they’ve got some outstanding players on their team, like Chloe Tryon, Sune Luus, Laura Wolvaardt. They’re a very challenging team to play against, but it’s always really good fun to come out here and play against them in their conditions. We’re really buzzing to get going.”
One potential trump card for England could be the recall of Lauren Filer, their fastest bowler, who was overlooked for the conditions at the World Cup, but who can expect to relish the harder surfaces of South Africa over the coming weeks.
“Filer’s bowling has really improved over the last year or so,” Wyatt-Hodge said. “She’s very scary to face in the nets, and especially out here, the pitches are quite quick and bouncy. So she’s going to be a handful to face out here. She’s been working really hard, and if she gets a chance, I’m sure she’s raring to go.”
The timing of the series, and the multi-format nature, means that England are sure to have one eye on their Ashes tour of Australia in January. But Wyatt-Hodge recognised the significance of the tour in its own right, especially given the need to bounce back from their recent disappointments.
“This is a massive series for us, leading up to the Ashes as well. We want to go out there and show off our skills, and show everyone how good we are.
“We’ve had a few meetings, there’s always ways we can be better,” she added. “Personally, I’ve got things on the work on, like many of the other girls, so we want to keep pushing ourselves to be better and better.
Even though I’m 33, I still feel like one of the youngsters, I feel about 23. I just want to have fun, but also, when I’m on it, I’m on it and I’m focused. I just want to keep working hard, and hopefully the youngsters see the likes of me, Heather [Knight], Amy [Jones], Nat [Sciver-Brunt] wanting to keep improving and working hard. We want to inspire them as well, to do what we’re doing.”
The tour will conclude with a one-off Test match in Bloemfontein, starting on December 15, and though Wyatt-Hodge insisted “I just play what’s in front of me,” she admitted the prospect of adding a third Test cap to her tally was an enticing one.
“We don’t really play that much of it, so every time I’m picked in a Test squad, it’s a really special feeling,” she said. “To make my Test debut in the Ashes Test couple of years ago was one of the best days I’ve had in my cricketing career. It hits different, a Test match does. We all really enjoy the challenge. It’s just so different, so having a Test match here against South Africa is going to be great prep going into the Ashes.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
