BIRMINGHAM: England on Friday announced their squads for the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Pakistan women’s cricket team.
Led by captain Heather Knight, the nearly month-long series will commence with the three match T20I series followed by three ODIs.
Tammy Beaumont and Kate Cross are part of T20I while Bess Heath, Freya Kemp, Linsey Smith will only play in the ODIs.
“We are really excited to start our home summer. It’s great to be kicking off the summer of sport on home soil. These two series’ against Pakistan give us an opportunity to build, develop and ensure we are in the best place come the World Cup in Bangladesh in September,” England women team’s Head coach Jon Lewis said.
In an earlier interview with Geo News, England women team captain Heather Knight said that she is super excited for the series against Pakistan women and her team is not taking the matches against Pakistan lightly and are fully prepared to take on the visitors.
“I don't think it’s will be an easy run at all. They have just got a new captain in Nida Dar, some of the players are performing more consistently so it won't be easy at all. We are expecting a tough match against them and and hopefully we can bring our “A” game and entertain the crowd,” she said.
Both England and Pakistan will lock horns at Birmingham’s Edgbaston stadium on 11 May for the first T20I game. This will be the first time an international cricket season in England will begin with a women game. It’s is expected that up to 15,000 spectators will attained the match as so far more than 12,000 tickets of the contest have been sold.
Although Pakistan women have previously played at Edgbaston during the commonwealth games in 2022 but this will be first time they face England at this venue. They will face each other in two more matches, first at Northampton on 17 May and then on 19 May at Headingley, Leeds, to finish off the T20I series.
Both teams will then head to Derby for the start of ODI leg of the series on 23 May. They will then face each other at Taunton on 27 May and then for the final ODI of the series at Chelmsford on 29 May.
Pakistan women last played England women in England in a bilateral series back in 2016. Both teams last faced each other again in England during the ICC Women Cricket World Cup in 2017.
This will also be the first bilateral series between both teams since England unilaterally pulled out of a scheduled tour of Pakistan, their first ever to Pakistan back in 2021.
The ODIs against England will be Pakistan’s final assignment in the current cycle of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 whereas England has still to play with New Zealand later in June. Currently Pakistan is at fifth place with 16 points while England is at third sport with 10 points in the 10-team ICC Women Championship standings.
England T20I squad
Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danielle Wyatt
England ODI squad
Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danielle Wyatt
Pakistan squad
Nida Dar (captain), Aliya Riaz, Ayesha Zafar, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Gull Feroza, Muneeba Ali (wk), Najiha Alvi (wk), Nashra Sundhu, Natalia Parvaiz, Rameen Shamim, Sadaf Shamas, Sadia Iqbal, Sidra Amin, Tuba Hassan, Umm-e-Hani and Waheeda Akhtar
Tour schedule
9 May – T20 warm-up game, Leicester
11 May – 1st T20I, Birmingham
17 May – 2nd T20I, Northampton
19 May – 3rd T20I, Leeds
21 May – One-Day warm-up game, Northampton
23 May – 1st ODI, Derby
26 May – 2nd ODI, Taunton
29 May – 3rd ODI, Chelmsford
