Kate Cross wants England to focus on ‘being calm under pressure moments’

A series of T20Is as mere hors d’oeuvres to a main event consisting of ODIs seems an upside-down way of looking at whatever feast of cricket an increasingly packed international menu has to offer.

But the three 50-over matches against India which make up the remainder of England Women’s summer represent just that for both teams with a World Cup less than two months away.

India, who will host that tournament, comprehensively outplayed England in three of their five T20s while England won two tight contests on the final ball.

For Kate Cross, who comes into England’s ODI squad after missing the T20Is along with Alice Davidson-Richards and Emma Lamb, the nature of those victories carried some negatives which the side will be looking to eradicate, but also positive signs.

“We won some really key moments under pressure and we managed to win two really close games under pressure,” Cross said. “That’s something that is talked about with this group, how we might not necessarily always win those moments, so they were two huge positives.

“If you think of the Edgbaston game, if we’d been in that really strong position to win it and then gone on to lose that game, then a lot more questions would be being asked. We won it, so that was great but equally we don’t want to be in those positions. We want to try and kill games sooner.

“Every cricketer that you talk to will be trying to do that, but mistakes are made along the way and pressure is put on you as a cricketer and teams are allowed to bowl well and bat well and take spectacular catches in the deep that change the momentum of the game.

“It certainly looked like we’ve looked calmer under pressure on Saturday, which is the sign of a team that’s moving in the right direction. The calmer we can be under those pressure moments, then the better we’ll be in those huge moments in World Cups and Ashes series and going down to the wire against India in a three-match one-day series.”

The last time England played in Southampton, the match went down to the wire too, with Australia winning the second of three ODIs on the final ball to level that leg of the Women’s Ashes.

England managed to keep the T20 series against India alive from 2-0 down at The Oval when India fluffed their lines chasing 172, a catch by Sophie Ecclestone as Harmanpreet Kaur tried in vain to clear mid-off for the six runs the visitors needed off the last ball the decisive moment.

In the final match, at Edgbaston with the series already gone India’s way 3-1, England were in prime position to overhaul a target of 168 at 95 without loss after 10 overs. But they collapsed to 163 for 5 and needed a single off the last ball, Ecclestone the successful protagonist once more.

“It feels like almost a line drawn in the sand with that series and then we’re going to go again with the one-day series,” Cross said on the eve of ahead of the opening ODI at Southampton.

“With the result, it wasn’t the way we wanted the series to go, so it’s a fresh start. We’re nil-nil again now, aren’t we? It’s an opportunity to try and get a win on the board tomorrow and go one-nil up in the series.

“You’ve got the same Smriti Mandhana coming out opening the batting, so it is trying to work out opportunities of how you might get those players out or how you might face bowlers. It’s always nice how the narratives are created through series like this when you get to play against the same team.”

How to negate Mandhana emerged as a theme from the T20Is. She was leading run-scorer by some distance, with 221 runs at an average of 44.20 and 137.26 strike rate. Her maiden century in the format set the tone as India won the opening match at Trent Bridge by 97 runs and she scored a half-century in England’s five-run victory at The Oval.

Facing India’s spin-heavy attack featuring N Shree Charani – Player of the Series with 10 wickets, including 4 for 12 on T20I debut in Nottingham – will be a focus for England, who will welcome back captain Nat Sciver-Brunt from injury to bolster their response.

England’s fielding, which brought them undone in the group stage of the T20 World Cup and was further exposed during their 16-0 Ashes defeat in January, went from improved to echoes of past shortcomings against India, keeping it firmly in the work-in-progress category.

“We’re getting still quite a lot of press around our fielding and it’s not where we want it to be,” Cross said. “We know that there’s been some mistakes made in key moments, but hopefully if we can be judged in six months, eight months, 12 months’ time where the new regime has had chance to bed in hopefully … you’ll only then see the changes which will fit with the new regime.”

When Charlotte Edwards was appointed as head coach in April, she was given just five months and six ODIs to prepare her side for the World Cup. Cross, who fondly remembers receiving her debut cap from former England captain Edwards, believes her coach is up to the task.

“She’s the biggest badger I know,” Cross said. “She’s literally watched every ball that you bowl or every ball that you face. She’s really on it. She’s got about seven laptops around her apartment, I think, to watch all the Blast games.

“But her knowledge around the game is just phenomenal. We feel really lucky that we’ve had a coach with that sort of experience come in, but also with the career that she had in the game, to come in to help guide us and make us a better team.

“She’s just not changed at all. She’s still the same Lottie that was my captain eight or nine years ago. So it is been really lovely for me personally to have her around. She’s always chuckling and making you laugh, which is a really nice place to be in an international dressing room.”