England pulled their centrally contracted players out of the second round of MetroBank One Day Cup fixtures earlier this week, instead having them play an intra-squad T20 match following a training camp at Millfield School.
The training camp is the fourth England have run over the winter, having taken players to Oman and South Africa over the winter. Most of the players involved in those camps – likely to be the group from which England will select their squads for their series against New Zealand and India next month – were available for the opening round of county fixtures last weekend, with the exceptions of Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Bell, Amy Jones, Mahika Gaur and Charlie Dean, whose workloads are being managed.
However, the move to withdraw players from the mid-week round of fixtures drew some criticism, given that England player availability for their counties this season is likely to be limited once the international summer starts. The likely justification for the decision is to allow for specialised T20 practice ahead of the upcoming World Cup, over releasing players for 50-over domestic cricket.
Winfield-Hill: The pressure is so different
Speaking on Wisden Women's Cricket Weekly podcast, former England wicketkeeper, Lauren Winfield-Hill, criticised the decision. "The pressure, in my opinion, is so different," said Winfield-Hill. "...There have been so many occasions where a player would stand up really well, and then you put them into the cauldron of international cricket, and it doesn't match-up, the performance is not the same. That's based on me previously, and how I would feel totally different playing for England vs playing an intra-squad game.
"I understand the argument from Lottie [Charlotte Edwards, England Women head coach], in terms of of the format is different, the tempo of the game is different. The way you construct and innings in 50-over cricket is very different from T20. Go and tell people to strike it at 150 from ball one in a 50-over game. To be honest it was no different from the way Paige Scholfield played yesterday anyway, or Danni Wyatt-Hodge in the previous game."
Wyatt-Hodge scored a 66-ball century batting at No.6 in Surrey's opening One Day Cup game of the season. Surrey were without Sophia Dunkley and Alice Capsey, as well as Wyatt-Hodge, from their top-six for their match against Yorkshire on Wednesday (April 15), in which Scholfield played a blistering innings opening the batting. She scored 89 from 42 balls, briefly threatening to beat the highest-ever women's List A hundred.
England released Surrey 50-over captain and wicketkeeper, Kira Chathli to play in that match, and were also without Amy Jones, who is having time off following her wedding. That meant they were short of keepers during the intra-squad game, and fielding coach Nick Wilton had to keep wicket.
All England players will be available for the One Day Cup fixtures over the weekend, with the exceptions of Sciver-Brunt, Jones, Capsey, Dunkley, Wyatt-Hodge and Sarah Glenn.
"I really struggle to see how it [an intra-squad match] is more beneficial than being in a game where there's consequence, where there's a result," said Winfield-Hill. "A lot of them have batted in both innings – you're getting a second chance. If I play a s*** shot early, I don't get a second chance.
"The benefit of it is that you can control the narrative, you can set up the scenarios, you can try and manipulate playing conditions, or whatever it might be – I want you guys to go out there in the powerplay and we want to go at 10s or 12s or whatever. But, I'm really struggling to be honest. I'm a big advocate of playing games, you learn the most, the consequence is higher, the anxiety is different, and the management of emotions and consequence and results, for me that can't be matched other than playing games where there's a real result and it's a proper competition."
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