England to tour New Zealand for ODI and T20I series to fill World Cup void

Tash Farrant, who lost her central contract at the start of 2019, has been recalled to the squad, with Anya Shrubsole and Katie George missing through injury

England Women will face New Zealand in ODIs and T20Is between late February and early March, with the final match of the tour taking place on the same day as the World Cup final was initially planned for before its postponement in August.

The tournament was pushed back by 12 months as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving a gap in the international schedule.

England went through 2020 without playing an ODI, and so their preparations for next year’s World Cup, to be played in New Zealand, will begin in earnest on February 23 at Hagley Oval.

From there, the second and third ODIs will take place at University of Otago Oval. The T20I series will follow, with games at Sky Stadium, Eden Park and Bay Oval.

England have named a squad of 16, including a standout recall for Tash Farrant, two years on from losing her central contract and eight years after her international debut as a 17-year-old. She was one of 25 players on a summer retainer deal, which has since led into a full-time domestic contract. The left-arm seamer impressed as captain of South East Stars.

Farrant’s inclusion comes at the expense of Anya Shrubsole, who misses out with a knee injury, and fellow seamer Katie George, who has sustained a stress fracture in her back.

For the 24-year-old, her call-up represents a major personal achievement after the low of being released at the beginning of 2019. She took time out of the sport in the immediate aftermath, before taking up a coaching job at Trent College.

^{Tash Farrant returns to the England fold, two years after being released from her central contract}

“I have ambitions to play cricket for England again,” she told The Cricketer upon signing her retainer deal in June, “but I’ve seen life outside of England Cricket now. Just to be a professional cricketer is just so exciting.”

Teenage fast bowler Issy Wong, also now on a full-time domestic contract with Central Sparks, will travel with the squad as part of her development, though she is not named as part of the main party.

Both the move to include Wong and the recall for Farrant are early signs of the impact of the domestic game’s professionalisation. In the past, those in Farrant’s position – no longer under a national contract and graduated from pathway programmes – might have believed their chances of playing for England had passed.

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Georgia Elwiss is also included after missing England’s summer series against West Indies due to a back injury. So, too, are Kate Cross and Lauren Winfield-Hill, both of whom were unused squad members against West Indies.

Upon arriving in New Zealand, the touring group will quarantine for a fortnight, in line with government regulations, though they will be permitted to train during that period.

Speaking to The Cricketer in December, head coach Lisa Keightley reaffirmed the importance of this period to her side’s preparations ahead of their defence next year of their 50-over World Cup crown.

“I suppose it’s about building on that because four years is a long time in cricket,” she said. “There’s no way you can do exactly the same as what you did four years ago. The style and the brand is moving forward really quickly.

^{Exciting fast bowling prospect Issy Wong will travel with the squad}

“With the bat, we’ve got a few world-class players: Tammy Beaumont in 50-over cricket has proven herself time and again to be a match-winner, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver have been fantastic. We need to get a little bit more depth with the bat and make sure we bat as long as we can.

“I don’t know if that’s a philosophy at this stage, but we’ve done some really good research over the last six months on different areas of the game in 50-over cricket to give us some really good guidelines on where we need to be.

“We feel that it will win us games of cricket, so it’s a matter of rolling that out and getting the players comfortable with it, testing it and seeing where we’re at.

Jonathan Finch, director of England Women’s cricket, added: “We have a really important 24 months in front of us with two ICC global events, the Women’s Ashes and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Our ambition is to be successful across all these events and this tour is the first step towards achieving that.”

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Squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni Wyatt

ODI Series

Tuesday February 23: 1st ODI, New Zealand v England (Hagley Oval, 1am GMT)

Friday February 26: 2nd ODI, New Zealand v England (University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT)

Sunday February 28: 3rd ODI, New Zealand v England (University of Otago Oval, 10pm GMT)

IT20 Series

Wednesday March 3: 1st IT20, New Zealand v England (Sky Stadium, 2am GMT)

Friday March 5: 2nd IT20, New Zealand v England (Eden Park, 2am GMT)

Sunday March 7: 3rd IT20, New Zealand v England (Bay Oval, 11pm GMT)