The India-England face-off is just less than a week ahead and seamer Emily Arlott has readily been enrolled in the 17-member squad of England. The team which will be cut down to 15 before the Bristol Test to be played on Sunday, June 16, to which the English captain Heather Knight pounds on her profound belief that the unearthing is just the start of making ways for the deserving talents who can put themselves at the international level.
“She’s come out of nowhere really, which is great. I don’t know a huge amount about her, apart from the last month or so when I’ve been watching her a little bit more closely and what a great story for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint [Trophy] as well,” she said and further added, “We’ve been calling for domestic competitions to be more professional for a while now and now it is you’re going to get people coming out of the woodwork like Emily has.”
Heather Knight shared her Edgbaston experience where she faced Arlott and Issy Wong a few weeks ago which was brilliant for her. “It was great to have two young quick bowlers tearing in trying to get me out, testing me, and Emily, really stood out and has done in the game since. We see her as a player that has the skills to play red-ball cricket as well. I’m so excited to have her around the group,” she contemplated.
Arlott’s 2 for 48 performance pushed the Sparks’ towards a comprehensive win against Knight’s Western Storm. But what actually did the thrust and cemented her position into the English squad was the four-wicket maiden which comprised of a fine hat-trick that helped Sparks to out-throw the defending champions, Southern Vipers.
“She’s had a bit of a tough time of it on and off the pitch probably in the last year. She struggled to get opportunities and fight her way back into the side and, in the Test match format, we would see her as being able to do that job. She’s a quality player,” Knight remarked on Lauren Winfield-Hill’s lengthy struggle.
Heather Knight further added, “She’s in really good form, she’s in a really good place with her health and her cricket, she’s fitter than I’ve ever seen her and she’s a very fit person anyway. I think she’s run the 2km in under eight minutes so I’m excited to see how she goes and I’m sure she’ll grasp the opportunity.”
Wicketkeeper-player Amy Jones, who opened with Beaumont in the last Ashes Test, has flourished since moving into the middle order – in ODIs after the Ashes series and in T20Is since the last match of England’s World Cup crusade. Jones has two centuries from three counterparts for the Sparks in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
“We want Amy to bat in the middle order. It’s something she’s done in white ball cricket really successfully and we see her, and she sees herself now, as a middle-order player, a middle-order player that can dictate a game and win matches,” Heather Knight said and emphasized further, “We’ve seen her batting at No. 4 for Central Sparks and doing amazingly well. She’s in great form I’m really excited to see what she can do this, this summer.”
The last two Ashes Tests, in 2017 in Sydney and 2019 at Taunton, have finished in draws and, while Knight said England’s main goal was tying down success to begin their multi-format series against India, she trusted her side could likewise engage.
“I’ve been following the games down at Bristol quite closely and I tried to get as much information about the pitch,” she said “The weather looks like it’s going to be very hot leading into it but it’s generally a reasonably good wicket down at Bristol and a good place to play cricket,” she pounded.
And moreover, pointed impactful indifferences regarding the upcoming month-long series as well. Heather Knight expressed: “We’ll have to assess that a little bit more closely when we get down to Bristol… but we always want to want to put on a show, especially as we haven’t had fans in there for so long. India are a very strong side and naturally there’ll be a contest there, they’re going to be hard to beat so hopefully that will be entertaining to watch.”
Under the multi-format series for India’s visit, which highlights three ODIs and three T20Is after the Test, squads will be granted four points for success in the Test with two points for a draw and one for an undecided result. A win in the white-ball matches will be worth two points.
