England women squad announced for series against Pakistan

BIRMINGHAM: England women squads have been announced for the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Pakistan women cricket team.

Led by captain Heather Knight, the nearly month-long series will commence with a three match T20I series followed by a three-ODI series. Other members of the squad are Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith and Danielle Wyatt.

Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross are part of T20I team, while Bess Heath, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith will only play in the ODIs.England women team’s head coach Jon Lewis said: “We are really excited to start our home summer. It’s great to be kicking off the summer of sport on home soil. These two series against Pakistan give us an opportunity to build, develop and ensure we are in the best place come the World Cup in Bangladesh in September”.

In an earlier interview with Geo News, England women team captain Heather Knight said she was super excited for the series against Pakistan women and her team was not taking the matches against Pakistan lightly and were fully prepared to take on the visitors.

“I don’t think it’s will be an easy run at all. They have just got a new captain in Nida Dar, some of the players are performing more consistently so it won’t be easy at all. We are expecting a tough match against them and hopefully we can bring our “A” game and entertain the crowd”. Both England and Pakistan will lock horns at Birmingham’s Edgbaston stadium on 11 May for the first T20I game. This will be the first time the international cricket season in England will begin with a women game. It’s is expected that up to 15,000 spectators will attend the match as so far already more than 12,000 tickets of the contest have been sold.

Although Pakistan women have previously played at Edgbaston during the Commonwealth Games in 2022, this will be first time they face England at this venue. They will face each other twice more, first at Northampton on 17 May and then on 19 May at Headingley, Leeds, to finish off the T20I series.

Both teams will then head to Derby for the start of ODI leg of the series on 23 May. Next, they will face each other at Taunton on 27 May and then for the final ODI of the series at Chelmsford on 29 May.

Pakistan women last played England women in England in a bilateral series back in 2016. Both teams last faced each other again in England was during the ICC Women Cricket World Cup in 2017. This will also be the first bilateral series between both teams since England unilaterally pulled out of a scheduled tour of Pakistan, their first ever to Pakistan back in 2021.

The ODIs against England will be Pakistan’s final assignment in the current cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 whereas England has still to play with New Zealand later in June. Currently Pakistan is at fifth place with 16 points, while England is at third spot with 10 points in the 10-team ICC Women Championship standings.

England Women T20I squad:

Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danielle Wyatt.

England Women ODI squad

Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean , Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones , Nat Sciver-Brunt , Danielle Wyatt.

Pakistan squad:

Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar:

Tour schedule:

9 May – T20 warm-up game, Leicester; 11 May – 1st T20I, Birmingham; 17 May – 2nd T20I, Northampton; 19 May – 3rd T20I, Leeds; 21 May – One-Day warm-up game, Northampton; 23 May – 1st ODI, Derby; 26 May – 2nd ODI, Taunton; 29 May – 3rd ODI, Chelmsford.