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England seamer Lauren Bell fell in love with Check cricket when she made her debut in opposition to South Africa final summer time and hopes this week’s Ashes opener in opposition to Australia can seize the temper of the nation.
Bell made worldwide debuts in all three codecs in 2022 however her maiden red-ball look at Taunton stood out as an expertise she’s going to always remember.
The 22-year-old’s first outing resulted in a rain-affected draw with England pushing for victory on the fourth and closing day, however Bell’s first style of the long-form sport left her longing for extra.
Thursday’s conflict in opposition to the world-beating Australians is ready to be larger in each sense, with each boards breaking with conference to schedule a fifth day and over 14,500 tickets bought at Trent Bridge – a venue with main Ashes custom.
Bell can hardly wait.
“Once I made my debut final 12 months it was memorable for therefore many causes however the factor that basically stood out was simply how particular Check match cricket felt,” she instructed the PA information company.
“I don’t suppose I had ever absolutely appreciated it earlier than, however I might see simply how particular it was to be a part of and felt so fortunate to be a part of it.
“From the surface, I by no means realised fairly how a lot enjoyable it may very well be, how a lot went into it, how a lot planning. I really feel I realized as a lot within the area of every week as I ever had achieved earlier than.
“It’s thrilling to be enjoying at Trent Bridge this 12 months, a giant Check floor with numerous historical past, and we have to recognize girls’s cricket on the right track and present how far we’ve come.”
Bell realises Australia’s fame because the dominant group of their technology has been effectively earned however, as a 183cm quick bowler, she shouldn’t be given to timidity.
“Beating Australia is the primary purpose for us,” she mentioned.
“We all know they’ve been forward of us for the previous couple of years, however we’ve labored actually exhausting and there’s actual confidence that we are able to actually problem them this 12 months.
“We have now to not be scared about failing. We are able to’t be anxious about getting one thing improper, considering what may occur if we do.
“We’ll take the identical mindset we have now in T20 cricket – be assured, go to our strengths and look to take the optimistic choices. We’ll be going on the market with intent and aiming to get a outcome.”
In the meantime, Alice Capsey and Alice Davidson-Richards have each been launched from the Check squad to be able to characteristic within the T20 A facet in Wednesday’s assembly with Australia.
Davidson-Richards’ absence means there will likely be a minimum of one change to the Ashes line-up following the Check in opposition to South Africa final 12 months.
The Check will likely be England Girls’s first over 5 days on house soil, and their first sport performed at Trent Bridge since 2000.
It will likely be adopted by three ODIs and three T20 fixtures to determine the multi-format collection.
-PA