Lauren Bell: England seamer on journey be leader of attack

England’s players have further T20 camps over the coming weeks, as well as their fitness testing which Edwards introduced after taking over last year – a topic much discussed after criticism during last year’s Ashes but former captain Edwards believes has now been put to bed by improvements.

Around those camps, Bell, whose Hampshire side play Essex on Saturday, and England’s other players, will be made available for the early rounds of the domestic 50-over competition which begins this weekend.

After that they have only six T20s, three against New Zealand and three against India, before their T20 World Cup campaign begins against Sri Lanka on 12 June.

It is nine years since England’s 50-over World Cup victory in 2017, which stands as their last trophy win – a point not lost on Bell.

“We haven’t won anything in a while and that is not a nice place to be as a team,” she says. “Everyone is motivated to turn it around.”

England’s men are going through their own identity issues following this winter’s Ashes defeat, something the women’s side experienced to a lesser extent after their 16-0 loss in Australia last winter.

Bell was speaking at St Albans Cricket Club as part of the England and Wales Cricket Club’s Get Set Weekend, where volunteers across the country get their club’s ready for the new season.

It will be from clubs like this where the support Bell hopes can make the difference will come.

“There’s obviously three really big countries – India who are in a great place at the moment, Australia who are really dominant and I guess we have got the home advantage, so who knows,” Bell says.