Lisa Keightley encouraged by England progress in West Indies clean sweep

NICK FRIEND AT DERBY: Keightley has spoken repeatedly since taking charge of England at the start of the year about the importance of setting the tone with the bat in the opening overs

England are still “nowhere near a finished product”, according to head coach Lisa Keightley, despite being encouraged by much of what she witnessed during England’s clean sweep series victory over West Indies.

She was speaking after watching her team stumble across the line in an all-action affair that was reduced to five overs per side after rain had delayed the start to the final instalment of a five-match series in Derby.

England edged to 42 for 7 in a frenetic run-chase that saw them collapse to 5 for 2, 25 for 5 and 38 for 7, before belatedly edging over the line in the final over, where they were helped by two no-balls from seamer Shakera Selman.

However, earlier in the series, Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont and Nat Sciver all recorded half centuries for the hosts, while seven different players took wickets, with leg-spinner Sarah Glenn emerging as the joint-leading wicket-taker alongside Shamilia Connell.

Glenn was named player of the series for her efforts – she also hit a match-winning innings of 26 in the second match as well, to highlight her all-round potential.

“She has been fantastic over the last twelve months,” Keightley said. “Her and Sophie Ecclestone in the middle throughout the T20 format has really changed the game for us and made us competitive in that middle phase to take wickets.

“We haven’t seen the best of Sarah Glenn. Batting-wise, she’s one of our cleanest strikers in the team, and I suppose it’s trying to get her game-time and opportunity to improve out in the middle and learn the game of what’s needed in each situation. The more time we can get her in the middle, moving forward we’re in a really strong place.”

^{Sarah Glenn and Sophie Ecclestone have emerged as a key partnership for England}

She added: “From a batting perspective, we’re starting to see depth and we’re starting to see players who can strike the ball and hit boundaries towards the back end.

“We’re nowhere near a finished product and a lot of those players are young, but a lot of those players over the next 18 months, by the time we get to the Commonwealth Games and the next T20, I hope they can have a big impact.”

Keightley has spoken repeatedly since taking charge of England at the start of the year about the importance of setting the tone with the bat in the opening overs. Beaumont and Sciver both referenced the demands on the top order when speaking after their fifties in previous games.

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“Moving forward, to get in front of the game is really important for us,” she reiterated. “If we can get a good powerplay and get in front of the game, it helps us through the middle and the back end.

“I think the mindset of having intent and looking to score is really important. We’re definitely nowhere near at our best but I think from the five games, the players are working out what that looks like for them. How can we punch first and, I suppose, take it to teams earlier than we have done in the past?

“That’s a shift individually each player has to work out what that looks like for them. Doing that, I think, is really positive in a way that we can compete and get to those big world events and not just be in semis and finals, but win them, especially the T20 format, which we haven’t done for a number of years.”

^{Heather Knight lifts the trophy after leading England to a 5-0 win over West Indies}

Glenn, Sciver, Beaumont, Heather Knight, Katherine Brunt and Amy Jones are all now set to fly out to Australia to take part in the Women’s Big Bash, which begins on October 25.

The remainder of England’s squad will reconvene at Loughborough in a fortnight’s time as preparations begin for their next assignment, which looks set to be a trip to New Zealand in February.

The tour will look to fill the void of the World Cup, which was due to be staged at the time but has since been postponed by 12 months as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

For Keightley, the effect on Covid-19 on women’s sport represents a worry as economics and logistics hold up a return to normality.

“There is a concern around our game, but I think it’s women’s sport in general, to be honest,” she explained.

“I think we’re getting real momentum across a lot of sports, and it just seems a little bit harder to get the women’s stuff up and running. Obviously, financially that has a big impact.

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“From a cricket perspective, it will be the countries that maybe can’t afford to do what the ECB have done and what Australia have done to host New Zealand.

“Cricket for the countries that may not be financially in the same position as Australia and England at the moment is probably the biggest concern at the moment – that they actually get to play some cricket and they don’t go for long periods of time.

“All the teams were really improving and on the way up. Cricket in that space was really competitive, so hopefully we can move forward and see what that looks like and, I suppose, look forward to playing some cricket soon, hopefully.”

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