England Women’s cricket team’s bowling star Lauren Bell achieved her first international five-wicket haul, leading her side to a 3-0 sweep in their ODI series against New Zealand.
After her impressive figures of 5 for 37 from nine overs, which helped restrict an improved White Ferns batting lineup, Bell discussed for the first time the challenges she faced in remodelling her bowling action while competing at the international level.
Here’s what Bell had to say on her 5 wicket haul
Speaking after her phenomenal performance in the game, Lauren Bell admitted that the past few months had been tricky for her as a bowler.
“It’s been a tricky few months, so yeah, it was nice to come out of today with some real success, it was a great day,” Bell said, after half-centuries from Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones had helped ensure her efforts did not go to waste.
“I got back from the series in New Zealand and we just thought to push my career on, make me a better bowler, we’d changed a few things with my action.
“But obviously when you bowl a certain way for however long, it has been tricky. I don’t really have a training block, I’ve just been playing, but it’s definitely for the best in the long term and I guess today shows that it is going to push me forward. But yeah, it is obviously hard doing it on an international stage.”
Returning from England’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year, Bell was tasked with bowling more upright, a change that has enabled her to swing the ball both ways.
This improvement was evident during her successful white-ball series against Pakistan at the start of the English summer. England’s captain, Heather Knight, praised Bell and her teammates for their courage in experimenting with new techniques during matches.
“There’s been drama..” Bell on England Women bowling coach Matt Mason
Bell’s wickets on Wednesday, marking her first five-wicket haul since playing at the Under-15 level, primarily resulted from a back-of-a-length, top-of-the-stumps strategy. The tall seamer expressed that she had received immense support from her teammates and England’s coaching staff throughout the process.
One of the main supporters for her has been England Women’s fast bowling coach Matt Mason.”I think he would’ve felt like a proud dad today,” Bell said.
“There’s been tears, there’s been drama, there’s been disagreements. We work really closely and he’s put in a lot of time to get me here.” Bell said.
“I think my bowling coach knew that one thing was going to lead to another,” she added. “I guess it got really exciting and now it’s just honing in on the consistency of being able to swing it both ways and bowl a wobble-ball obviously. It’s something I’m just going to learn, but hopefully in the long run will be really exciting.” She added
“I’ve gone a long time not really having to think much about how I bowl. Now, my change in action, I very much have to concentrate on it, so I’ve learned that I need to focus and I’ve got a couple of cues that help me with that. I reset every ball and I focus in on my cues. It is a bit of a routine that I’ve picked up in the last couple of months that I think will take me a long way, especially in pressure situations.” Bell concluded.
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