The T20s are done, the slate is clean, and England’s women move on to three one-day internationals against India, starting in Southampton on Tuesday. With a home World Cup only seven weeks away, these 50-over games feel more like a dress rehearsal than an afterthought, yet they arrive on the back of a 3-2 T20 defeat that exposed both flair and frailty.
India dominated three matches; England pinched two off the final ball. Into that mixed picture steps seamer Kate Cross, recalled alongside Alice Davidson-Richards and Emma Lamb after sitting out the sprint format. Cross, never one for drama, believes England’s narrow wins reveal as much as the losses.
“We won some really key moments under pressure and we managed to win two really close games under pressure,” she 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.”
Cross points to Edgbaston, where England reached 95 without loss chasing 168, then lurched to 163 for five, only dragging themselves over the line off the last ball. “If you’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.”
England’s recent habit of leaving the door open late was also on show at The Oval, when Harmanpreet Kaur’s side needed six off the final delivery before Sophie Ecclestone held her nerve — and a vital catch — at mid-off. Cross accepts that such scrapes cannot become routine.
“Every cricketer that you talk to will be trying to do that,” she said of finishing games cleanly, “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.”
The calm-under-fire theme has run through England’s camp since last winter’s Ashes. Assistant coach Gareth Breese spent part of Monday’s session running small, high-stakes scenarios: five wickets left, 25 needed, three overs. Simple on paper, awkward when humid air, television cameras and India’s spinners are involved.
“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,” Cross noted. “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.”
Southampton provides its own recent reminder. Last July, Australia sneaked an Ashes ODI there off the final ball, a result that tilted the multi-format series. Jessica Heath, part of the Sky commentary team this week, believes late-over clarity is worth ten extra runs. “You can see when England carry a plan into the 48th or 49th over; the body language changes,” she said. “If they nail that here, they’re hard to stop.”
Selection-wise, England look settled. Tammy Beaumont and Danni Wyatt will open, Nat Sciver-Brunt anchors the middle, and Ecclestone’s left-arm spin partners experienced quicks in Cross and Lauren Bell. Coach Jon Lewis hinted that uncapped seamer Mahika Gaur, impressive for the Under-19s, may have to wait.
India, meanwhile, travelled down from Birmingham buoyant but realistic. Coach Amol Muzumdar labelled the T20 success “a start, not a statement”. Smriti Mandhana’s form remains central; her two half-centuries set up India’s wins, yet her dismissal at The Oval triggered the stumble that kept the series alive. Off-spinner Shreyanka Patil, economical in the Powerplay, is expected to be tested over ten overs for the first time.
Cross views the series as a line break. “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,” she said on Monday, pausing as a helicopter thumped overhead. The point remained clear.
“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.”
England’s schedule squeezes the remaining two ODIs into five days, then it’s regional cricket before the squad regroups for World Cup prep. That timetable, Cross reckons, leaves little room for panic. “Everyone’s played enough cricket to know what good looks like,” she said. “Now it’s about being able to do it when the heart rate’s up.”
If England can combine that cool head with the punch they showed in snippets during the T20s, the coming week should offer more than mere hors d’oeuvres.
