England women and a new focus after ‘fitness' furore

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Charlotte Edwards knows she must change perceptions as well as results when a new era for England women's cricket begins in earnest at Trent Bridge, with scrutiny on them like never before.
There is nothing that forces a shake-up and introspection more than an Ashes whitewash, and England turned to one of the biggest figures in women's cricket history after a woeful winter.
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England men know all about the repercussions that come with losing a Test series 5-0 in Australia, but the points structure in the women's game (white-ball wins are worth two points and a Test victory earns you four points) makes it appear even worse when contemplating the 16-0 embarrassment handed out by the old enemy.
Not only that, but Edwards, who succeeded Jon Lewis as coach after the inevitable review that followed, has had to deal with questions about England's fitness levels at a time when the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) are desperate to shout about the professionalism of the women's game.
A six-match series against a weak West Indies provided a gentle introduction for an England team now led by new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, but life will become tougher as the first of eight internationals against a strong India side begins on Saturday.
That will be followed by a 50-over World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and then a Twenty20 world tournament in England next summer that the governing body hopes will become something of a 'Lionesses' moment in terms of interest and projection — mirroring the England's women's football team's victory on home soil at Euro 2022.
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But it is the spectre of Australia that will continue to loom large over England until they prove their significant investment in women's cricket — a new professional structure at county level and equal starting salaries with men was a big step forward this year — sees them match and even overtake the dominant force in the game.
England last won the Ashes 11 years ago and have not defeated Australia in a world tournament knockout match since 2009. In 11 World Cups across formats since, Australia have been victorious eight times while England have won just one, the 2017 50-over home tournament.
'We're a lot closer to Australia than people are giving us credit for, which probably sounds stupid after a 16-0 drubbing, but I truly believe the teams are closer than that,' former England captain Edwards tells .
'I know the Aussies believe we're closer than that, too, because I've coached a lot out there and they've got a lot of respect.
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'When I first came in, the objective was to get our players playing more county cricket and putting an emphasis on performance in that, and it was really important for us to win both series against West Indies.
'The other thing I had to deal with was the perception of us as a group, which, after the winter, wasn't in the greatest of places. It was just looking at our professionalism and making players really understand their roles as England cricketers.
'I've been super impressed with how the players have responded. Now we're ready to take on the next challenge, which is India.'
That perception is a key point. One of the biggest controversies in England's development initially began when one of their former players and now a leading commentator, Alex Hartley, criticised the players' fitness after their shock defeat to the West Indies in Dubai in October and their early exit from the T20 World Cup.
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'About 80 per cent of the England team are fit and athletic enough, but there are girls in that side who are letting the team down on fitness,' Hartley told the BBC.
The row escalated when Sophie Ecclestone, one of England's leading players and former No 1-ranked bowler in the world, took the criticism personally and refused to do a pitch-side interview with her former team-mate at both England and Lancashire after the first T20 international of the Ashes, by which point England were 6-0 down.
Hartley made that snub public when she later said on the BBC: 'I've been hung out to dry. The reason I said England aren't as fit as Australia is because I want them to compete. I want them to be better and to win. But I've been given the cold shoulder. Not by everyone, but a few individual coaches and players. They won't even look at me.'
Hartley, as a recently retired player and former team-mate of many of the players, should be commended for doing her job as a broadcaster and saying it as it is.
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But perhaps the problem came with her use of the word 'fitness'. Only in April, one of the highest profile male cricketers of the modern age in Andrew Flintoff said in a Disney Plus documentary that fat shaming 25 years ago had driven him to bulimia.
Tammy Beaumont is one of the most experienced members of the England side and still a key figure in the new era as an opening batter in all three formats. 'It's a difficult one,' Beaumont, 34, tells . 'If the word athleticism had been used, it would have been more accurate. I have spoken to Alex Hartley about it. We go way back and used to live with each other — and I think she now thinks athleticism is the word she should have used. That would be a fair comment.
'The Australians were more athletic than us in the field. Fitness-wise, we don't disclose our scores, but some people would be surprised to see we're not as unfit as has been said. But, yes, we have to move better in the field, we have to take the catches under pressure, and we understand that.
'More eyes are on women's cricket now. We want to be treated as equally as possible to our male counterparts, and they would have received criticism for similar things.
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'We have to own up to the fact we as players weren't good enough on the pitch and we handled things off it in a way we regret. That's something we really want to prove to all the supporters. We care so much about English cricket and each other.'
Edwards concurs. 'It was really hard as an ex-player and someone who cares enormously about the women's game and the England team to witness that.
'It was a great reminder of where the game has reached. Gone are the days when there were two or three people in the ground watching and not too many bothered about it.
'That it got that level of media attention is where we want the game to be. It was a real shock to the players because they probably weren't prepared for that level of scrutiny.
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'What we can't move away from is that Australia are a more athletic and probably fitter team than us, but from my experiences, the level of fitness I've witnessed since I've come in has been of a really high standard.
'The players are under no illusions now as to what is expected of them as England cricketers. I've seen a real shift in that area. After the winter, everyone was aware that the focus was on fitness rather than cricket, and I want the focus to be on cricket. It's whether we're winning games and batting or bowling well, rather than that. That can't be a talking point moving forward.'
Ecclestone missed the West Indies matches with a knee injury and then took a temporary break to protect her well-being and manage another minor injury. But she is due to make her return in Nottingham on Saturday.
'It has been a tough few months for Soph,' says Edwards. 'We know we're a better team with her in it, but it needed to be right for everyone before she came back.
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'I'm looking forward to having her back doing what she loves doing and is good at. She has the full support of all the players and staff.'
When Edwards started playing for England in 1996, aged just 16, women cricketers were forced to wear skirts and paid for the privilege of representing their country.
By the time she was controversially replaced as England captain in 2016 by coach Mark Robinson, she had made 309 appearances in all formats and had seen the women's game become professional and grow beyond all recognition.
She has become just as adept as a coach, initially with Hampshire and Southern Vipers before gaining success in Australia and India with Sydney Sixers and Mumbai Indians. It was inevitable she would coach England and she will bring discipline and empathy.
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'I love coaching and this job came at the right time,' says Edwards. 'I'm pretty hard but fair as a coach. I expect high standards of everyone, but I'm a lot of fun as well.
'I care enormously about the people I work with and I work bloody hard. You have to take people on that journey with you and building relationships is a big part of that. Hopefully, I've done that quite well over the last few years.'
Beaumont is relishing working again with her former England opening batting partner. 'She's an England legend and that comes with the respect it demands,' she says. 'She commands respect for everything she did as a player, but now her coaching does, too. She's a winner and not afraid to say now it's all about winning. That's really something that we're all on board with.'
Schedule: June 28: first T20 international (Trent Bridge, Nottingham); July 1: 2nd T20i (Bristol); July 4: 3rd T20i (The Oval, London); July 9: fourth T20i (Old Trafford, Manchester); July 12: 5th T20i (Edgbaston). July 16: first one-day international (Southampton); July 19: 2nd ODI (Lord's, London); July 22: 3rd ODI (Chester-le-Street, Durham).
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Squads (T20 internationals)
England: Nat Sciver-Brunt (captain), Em Arlott, Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Amy Jones (wicketkeeper), Paige Scholfield, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Issy Wong.
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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