Jon Lewis: England coach says tactical distractions will aid T20 World Cup preparation | Cricket News

England head coach Jon Lewis was pleased with his side’s performance in winning the T20I against New Zealand at Lord’s – with their tactical distractions throughout the series paying off.

Lewis made the decision to rest captain Heather Knight for the third T20I in Canterbury, where the hosts won by six wickets in a nervy encounter, to create a pressure-packed environment and give the team opportunities to deal with any curveballs they may face in the build-up to the T20 World Cup in October, live on Air sports.

Throughout the series, Lewis made drastic changes to the team, often completely changing his bowling attack to test his strongest XI ahead of Bangladesh. After the series concluded, he said he was impressed by how the team’s young players responded to these challenges.

“I just told them there’s going to be distractions, so they’re waiting to see what’s going to happen, they’re not sure what’s going to happen, and that creates pressure, it creates anxiety, it creates thinking,” Lewis said.

“If you plant the seed, people usually overthink things. You’re just trying to raise the anxiety level within the group to a level where they’re able to come back to a calm place and communicate well with each other and talk their way through situations.

“We got stuck on the bus today. I didn’t plan on that. That in itself is a distraction. People were talking about getting off the bus and taking the subway to come here so they could train before the game.

“Even though the players have a lot of caps, they don’t have the experience of winning pressure moments, so we try to create them by doing different things from time to time.

“Heather (Knight) and I were sitting in Canterbury, which was something different, something we’d never tried before, but it was really interesting to watch from the sidelines.

“We talked to the group about changing the lineup just before they went out to play and again. It creates a little bit of anxiety. We didn’t end up doing it, but it’s the kind of thing we did just to try.

“It was great to see some of those things play out in this series without us having to do much to orchestrate it.”

England also dominated their multi-format series against Pakistan, which preceded their games against New Zealand, where they also earned a draw. However, concerns remain over how they will carry that momentum into the World Cup.

The players will not meet again until September, when they take on Ireland in another multi-format series before flying to Abu Dhabi for a World Cup training camp.

“It’s a difficult time for us to deal with,” Lewis admitted.

“I just spoke to the players in the dressing room and told them how keen I am to see them dominate The Hundred and show what brilliant players they are.

“They’re going to be coming into new teams with new coaches, new players and a new social group with a different captain, a different coach, a different team that’s going to give them different messages, while making sure that they’re able to continue to do the things that we’ve been working on as well.

“I want them to play the way we want them to and dominate this competition. That’s the challenge we’ve set them.”

Bangladesh are expected to provide spinner-friendly pitches for the teams and with Sophie Ecclestone the world’s No.1 T20I bowler, England look set to take on that challenge.

“I think we’re confident we can win, but we have to play in the conditions and be smart, we have to think about how we’re going to play.

“This is probably the most important thing. We are confident that we are on the right track to achieve this goal.

“I think the team that plays in the best conditions in Bangladesh will win this tournament.”

Sciver-Brunt: England can count on Ecclestone’s confidence after he took no wickets

Katherine Sciver-Brunt believes England can also be confident heading into the T20 World Cup thanks to the fact they still secured a comfortable win at Lord’s despite Sophie Ecclestone not taking a wicket.

Before the T20I, the world’s leading bowler had a streak of 34 consecutive innings of taking wickets but she could only manage 0-30 in the home of cricket.

Although Ecclestone is not used to this day, Sciver-Brunt believes the team are in a good position to be able to beat teams without his influence.

“It’s not a great day for Sophie, but it’s a great day for England to be able to support her, to trust her and to have confidence in their own ability to do the job without her,” Sciver-Brunt said.

“Obviously she’s a key player for us and it’s the first time she’s not got a wicket for us in 34 consecutive games.

“She’s a great asset, but we can’t count on her.”

When is the T20 World Cup?

The 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup will be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20. Australia are aiming for a third consecutive title and seventh overall and England are aiming for a first trophy since the inaugural edition in 2009.

Every match will be broadcast live on Sky Sportsstarting with the tournament’s opening match between England and 2023 finalists South Africa in Dhaka and ending with the final at the same venue.

The ten competing teams were split into two groups of five, with the two teams playing each other once in the group stage before the top two teams advanced to the semi-finals.

Scotland and Sri Lanka have qualified to join Australia, England, South Africa, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh in the event.

Women’s T20 World Cup Groups

• Group A: Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
• Group B: South Africa, England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Scotland

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