Anya Shrubsole's century and Heather Knight's Manuka love affair... ENGLAND V PAKISTAN TALKING POINTS

NICK FRIEND: For the most part, England were excellent as they brushed aside Pakistan in a professional display at Manuka Oval, Canberra

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Shrubsole’s historic ton

Let’s start with a word for Anya Shrubsole, who took her 100th T20I wicket when she dismissed Diana Baig. She is just the third woman to reach the milestone – and comfortably the quickest. She will have Ellyse Perry and Anisa Mohammed in her sights.

Perry has 114 in 119 games, while Mohammed’s 119 have come in 110 matches. Shrubsole’s landmark has required just 74; she has bowled 125 overs fewer than Perry. It is a phenomenal record.

Of the 32 players to have claimed at least 50 WT20I scalps, only New Zealand’s Leigh Kasperek has a superior strike-rate. Shrubsole’s have come every 14.9 deliveries – a remarkable haul, all at an average bettered by just Kasperek and India’s Poonam Yadav.

After a poor Ashes series and an underwhelming trip to Malaysia to take on Pakistan in December, Shrubsole is bowling as well now as she has done for a considerable period of time.

Manuka Oval: Heather Knight’s field of dreams

Entirely theoretical, obviously. But if they played the entire World Cup at Manuka Oval, England wouldn’t go far wrong. For a start, they play well in Canberra.

In Heather Knight’s case, she plays better than well there. It is her field of dreams: all five of her T20I scores above fifty have come at the venue. Each of those have come in her last five outings at the ground. Her 62 today followed scores of 108*, 78, 67 and 51.

“I'd love to play here all the time,” she laughed – only semi-jokingly – after her century against Thailand. Too right. “I think it suits my game quite well. It's generally quite skiddy, comes on nicely, and you get really good value for the shots.”

On this occasion, she was imperious once again. Nat Sciver was often content – rightly – to hand over the strike to her captain. Her form with the bat since the start of this trip has been remarkable.

It has not just been the runs she has scored, but the manner and transformation of their composition. It is one thing to preach fearlessness, but another entirely to practise it; Knight has shown the way to her teammates.

^{Heather Knight has made five consecutive scores above 50 at Manuka Oval}

England’s opening conundrum

Amid England’s top order difficulties, the cry for changes has grown louder from afar. Danni Wyatt and Amy Jones are struggling for form, no doubt.

As Charlotte Edwards pointed out after Wyatt was caught in the offside ring for a third successive game, her bottom hand – dominant at the best of times – is taking over in her search for runs and rhythm, forcing her to skew aerially towards a pride of waiting fielders.

Jones, meanwhile, simply looks like a player fighting against her own game at the moment, desperate for the fluency that has made her such a fine watch at her best. Her dismissal – lbw when fair way down the pitch to Diana Baig – was the kind you are handed when very little is going right. It doesn’t rain, but it pours etc. This was a marginal call, a bail-trimmer – a dagger through the heart as its inevitability is lit up the big screen.

It is worth also saying that it is possible both to remain a fine international cricketer and be well below your best at an inopportune moment. Social media, as is its wont, is a less than nuanced platform.

Just two months ago, Jones was the top run-scorer during England’s whitewash victory in Malaysia against Pakistan. She was the tenth-highest run-scorer in the Women’s Big Bash, where she played under Lisa Keightley, who has seen her at her best on Australian surfaces. Yet, she has made just 87 runs in eight innings since arriving Down Under in January.

Wyatt bettered Jones’ WBBL run-tally, averaging 39 as she helped herself to 468 runs at a strike-rate of 131.83. Only six players – in a competition widely considered to be the finest in the women’s game – managed more runs. She is one of three English players with a WT20I century – and the only one with two. And while Wyatt has made just 95 runs in 2020, her history is worth remembering.

To those calling for changes, the question is simple: who moves where? The argument for Tammy Beaumont to shift back up to an opening slot, with Jones then slipping into the middle order, is the most logical alternative, but England like the option of Beaumont in the latter overs. That apart, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver have been superb in their own roles, while Fran Wilson fits in most naturally at No.5. Lauren Winfield, a World Cup-winning opener, finds herself at No.8 – she has not batted above No.6 in a T20I since July 2016.

A look to England’s reserve list strengthens the point; Kate Cross, Mady Villiers, Georgia Elwiss and Freya Davies all offer England something, but none could slot in without forcing a wider change of structure. Besides, Knight is hardly short on bowlers.

Before the tournament began, Winfield told The Cricketer: “I think a lot of teams – myself included when I’ve captained sides before – sometimes have too much choice. You can pick six or seven bowlers so you use them, rather than handing your five best bowlers four overs each. You might have someone covering if it doesn’t go to plan.”

It is a formula that has worked so far, especially given the form of England’s two 20-year-old spinners.

^{Sarah Glenn took 3 for 15 in England's win}

Stump-to-stump spinners show the way

Neither Sarah Glenn nor Sophie Ecclestone would claim to be the biggest spinners of the ball. Both, rather, assert their dominance through an immaculate control of line and length. Ecclestone, especially, is metronomic, keeping batsmen honest before firing through her quicker delivery.

Glenn is little different – it makes her an unusual leg-spinner. Batsmen would be better served playing her almost as a medium-pacer. To put it in legendary terms, she is far more Anil Kumble than Shane Warne, relying on the bounce of her top-spinners rather than any sideways bite out of the surface.

As England look for a new bowling partnership to take on the mantle for so long held by Katherine Brunt and Shrubsole, they may well have found it.

Here, the pair took 5 for 27 from their eight overs combined. There is no let-up from either end; neither offer freebies. Glenn, with her quicker arm action, is a difficult bowler to cut and even harder – as Umaima Sohail found to her cost – to charge with confidence or control.