Berkshire’s Bell is England star
FAST bowler Lauren Bell capped a memorable summer with inclusion in England’s Twenty20 squad for their three match series against India.
Bell, who came through the ranks at Berkshire, made her Test debut against South Africa in June and her One Day International bow against the same opposition three weeks later in July, but was left out of the T20 squad for the Commonwealth Games.
The 21-year-old featured in two of the three games as England won the series 2-1 against the world’s fourth best side.
“I was so excited to make my T20 debut. I wasn’t in the squad for the Commonwealths, I was so happy to be included in this squad and then to find out I’d be making my debut, it’s been a good couple of months for sure,” Bell said.
“Naturally it was a bit disappointing not to be in the Commonwealths squad, but I’m in the mindset that I’ve got loads of opportunities to perform with the Vipers and the Brave.
“I worked hard on what England wanted and I knew there was a chance that I’d get picked down the line, I’m so pleased.”
With England’s leading T20 wicket-taker Katherine Brunt rested and stalwart Anya Shrubsole having retired, Bell is one of a host of exciting talents looking to establish themselves in the England squad.
She said: “I’d like to think that I’ve got a good chance of taking on international cricket, we’ve got such an exciting squad.”
Domestically, Bell finished as the second leading wicket-taker with 11 in the Hundred as she helped the Southern Brave to the final, losing out to the Oval Invincibles.
Bell finished with impressive figures of 1-14 from her 20 balls in the final at Lord’s, but the Invincibles were crowned champions with five wickets and six balls to spare – a repeat of last year’s result.
“I was really happy with how I performed personally,” she said. “The Hundred is a great platform for women’s cricket, but we were so disappointed to lose in the final.
“It was a similar story to last year. We showed plenty of fight but we didn’t quite have enough runs on the board.
“We lost, we didn’t quite get over the line, there was a lot of disappointment but also a lot of pride and we’ll go again next year.”