England seamer Lauren Bell fell in love with Check cricket when she made her debut towards South Africa final summer time and hopes this week’s Ashes opener towards 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 is going to always remember.
The 22-year-old’s first outing led to a rain-affected draw, with England pushing for victory on the fourth and remaining day, however Bell’s first style of the long-form recreation left her longing for extra.
Thursday’s conflict towards the world-beating Australians is about to be larger in each sense, with each boards breaking with conference to schedule a fifth day and over 14,500 tickets offered at Trent Bridge – a venue with main Ashes custom. And Bell can hardly wait.
“Once I made my debut final yr it was memorable for thus 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 skin, 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 per week as I ever had achieved earlier than.
“It’s thrilling to be enjoying at Trent Bridge this yr, a giant Check floor with plenty of historical past, and we have to admire ladies’s cricket on track and present how far we’ve come.”
Bell realises Australia’s status because the dominant staff of their era has been nicely earned however, as a 6ft quick bowler, she is just not given to timidity.
“Beating Australia is the principle aim for us,” she mentioned.
“We all know they’ve been forward of us for the previous few years, however we’ve labored actually arduous and there’s actual confidence that we are able to actually problem them this yr.
“We now have to not be scared about failing. We are able to’t be nervous about getting one thing improper, pondering what would possibly occur if we do.
“We’ll take the identical mindset now we have 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, England all-rounders Alice Capsey and Alice Davidson-Richards have been launched from the Check squad. The pair will drop all the way down to the England A aspect as they put together to tackle Australia A in a T20 at Loughborough on Wednesday.
Capsey has grow to be a central a part of England’s T20 and ODI groups and had been hoping to make her first Check look, whereas Davidson-Richards finds herself out of senior squad regardless of hitting a century towards South Africa in her solely Check innings.
