Women’s cricket could have its Lionesses ‘moment’ as T20 World Cup grows closer

Having secured the win in their summer T20 series against New Zealand, England Women are looking ahead to big things.

They secured victory just three games into their five-match series, having racked up an unassailable 3-0 lead.

But the job is not done yet.

With a T20 World Cup around the corner, England fast bowler Lauren Bell has told talkSPORT they are determined to finish strong, particularly with the final match taking place at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Wednesday, July 17.

“We don’t really want to give New Zealand anything,” Bell told talkSPORT. “I think we’ve obviously putting in more strong performances, really. This is our last two series games before the World Cup.

“So we definitely want to finish strong. Obviously, we’ve got two games in London, which is always really cool. So, yeah, definitely we want to finish 5-0 in the T-20 series.”

The 2024 T20 World Cup will take place in Bangladesh in October as England Women look to do what they have not done since 2009 and regain their crown.

They will have to overcome the likes of reigning champions Australia to do so – but Bell believes they are extremely well-placed to do so.

“I can’t speak for other teams, but we’re in a really good place. And the environment is definitely one of the best it’s ever been. And one of the things that (coach) Jon Lewis has built is a squad where we’ve got options.

“We haven’t just got a starting eleven, which I guess we’ve shown in this New Zealand series. I think picking the 15 to go to the World Cup is hard. And that’s testament to how much the squad’s grown and the talent we have.”

Ranked 2nd in the world for the Women’s T20 rankings, the side have enjoyed marked success in recent years.

In particular, Bell commented on how the audiences for this summer’s series was a great reflection on just how far the game had come in recent times.

She added: “We’ve sold out a couple of grounds and they’ve been pretty full. And I think it makes such a big difference. We’ve obviously got a lot of support. And as a team, one of our mottos is to entertain and inspire the next generation.

“And I feel like having young girls and boys at the games and watching shows that we are doing that and gives eyes to, yeah, to continue doing that. It’s been really cool. I guess it has changed.

“I feel like the Ashes was probably the turning moment for that. Before that, we’d had alright crowds, but then obviously the Ashes was an amazing series and the crowds were amazing. And then I think since then, we’ve just pushed forward and got people wanting to watch and come back to watch us again.”

Such a rise is something that has been experienced across a lot of women’s sports – most prominently with England’s Lionesses.

And Bell believes that the success that came from the Lionesses’ Euro 2022 win is something that can be emulated in cricket too.

“I think obviously they’ve been amazing and them winning a home Euro has probably sparked that for them,” she said. “And obviously they’re a really, really, really good team. And yeah, I think I would hope (we can have that too).

“We’ve got a World Cup in Bangladesh and we’ve got a World Cup in England in a couple of years’ time. So I think definitely we can hopefully have that moment. If not, it might just be more of a gradual build with Ashes series and the World Cup. And hopefully if we play some exciting cricket and we win some of those trophies, I think we wouldn’t be far off.”

You can buy tickets for England Women’s final T20 match against New Zealand at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Wednesday 17 July here.