It’s no time to panic, insists England coach

England women’s coach Mark Robinson insists he will not make panic changes after Saturday’s opening World Cup defeat by India.

England face Pakistan at leicester today knowing a second loss would leave them facing an uphill struggle to reach the semi-finals.

Robinson said: ‘India hit us like a sledgehammer. They put us on the ropes very quickly and we did very well to hang in that game.

‘From a batting point of view we kept it alive a long time, the middle order did really well to take that game deep.

‘We’ve only had one game, so it would be a bit hard for anyone to miss out after that.’

despite conditions conducive to pace, spin bowling in women’s cricket is far more potent. Six of the top 10 in the OdI rankings are spinners.

Sana Mir, Pakistan’s captain, is eighth in the rankings and 31 of the 49 overs her side bowled against South africa on Sunday came from her spinners.

Robinson admitted playing spin is an area England must work on, adding: ‘India’s leg spinner (Ekta Bisht) bowled at 39mph. That’s a challenge in itself. ‘We’ve got to be ready and be sure of what we need to do, as best as we can going forward against teams like Pakistan and Sri lanka. ‘ We try preparing for the opposition — what they’re going to confront us with and try to counter-attack, but also make sure that we play to our strengths.’ lauren Winfield remains sidelined by the wrist injury she suffered during a warm-up match against new Zealand and will visit a specialist today. Sarah Taylor (left) was pushed up to the opener’s spot and Robinson was pleased with how the 28-year-old coped with the pressure.

‘We spoke to Sarah and she said she didn’t mind about opening,’ the England coach said.

‘She wanted us to make the choice. One thing she did say was there’s no waiting around for her. Sometimes waiting for your turn to bat can make it worse. There was a lot of hype around the India match. It was hard for us to get into the ground in the morning.

‘There were cameramen in our faces, so it was a good one to get out the way and she handled it really well.’