Lauren Filer has been in striking form for England this summer but is looking at making improvements to her action this winter which could help her bowl even quicker.
One of the fastest women’s bowlers around, Filer rose to prominence as she was selected for an England debut in the lone Ashes Test, justifying her inclusion with four wickets, including Ellyse Perry twice.
Her extra pace and bounce put a number of Australia batters on alert and it has been a similar theme in the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka, where she has claimed five wickets in her first two matches.
But the 22-year-old is not resting on her laurels and, while upping her speed is not a priority, some technical tweaks she intends to work on could have the knock-on effect of her becoming even more brisk.
“I know I can definitely bowl quicker,” she told the PA news agency. “I think there’s a few things to work on in the winter that will probably help me do that.
“I jump quite high so I probably need to go more forward in my bound so all the momentum is going forward. Hopefully everything is going a bit quicker so everything comes out a little bit quicker.
“But being quicker is not the main aim, it’s something that’s there and if it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m not too worried about that, I just want to bowl the best for the team.
“I feel like the role that I have, I really enjoy doing. Taking wickets is something I’m trying to do every ball. It’s nice to be able to contribute.”
Filer’s influence and what she brings to the team have seen her labelled a “massive crowd favourite” by England captain Heather Knight.
“I’m trying not to think too much of the outside noise, just thinking about what I want to do and how I’m going to impact the game,” Filer said.
“It’s always nice to have the crowd’s backing and clapping you when you’re running in, it boosts yourself to bowl even quicker.”
Filer’s immediate focus is on England’s final assignment of a memorable summer in the third ODI against Sri Lanka, who will be looking to level the series at Grace Road on Thursday.
The tourists, who a claimed a shock win in the preceding T20 series, were spared by rain on Tuesday after lurching to 106 for nine, the same total they were bowled out for in Saturday’s series opener.
Filer claimed a couple of wickets in Northampton, including setting up Harshitha Samarawickrama with bouncers before tempting the Sri Lanka number three with a fuller delivery which she edged behind.
“My natural length is always going to be a bit back of a length so the fuller ball is probably the surprise ball, rather than the other way around,” Filer said.
“I get bounce with my height but if the pitch helps me as well, it gives that extra threat. People are probably just a little more wary of the bounce that I can get.
“It’s something I want to try to use as much as possible because I know there’s probably not a lot of it about in the women’s game. It’s a tool in my tool box.”
While two polished collective bowling displays have subdued Sri Lanka, Filer remains wary of the threat the tourists possess.
“We just want to end the summer on a high,” Filer added. “We had a convincing win over them in the first T20 and they bounced back really well. I wouldn’t take anything for granted.”
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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