Lauren Filer might have spent the run-up to last Christmas working in Tesco, had she not been rather unceremoniously dropped a few months before.
“I actually got the sack - I didn’t turn up because I was playing too much cricket,” she explains rather sheepishly, though it sounds as if she was pushed only fractionally before she had chance to leap. “I mean, it was something I was doing on the side and even if they hadn’t done it, it wouldn’t have been feasible for too much longer.”
Happily, 12 months on there has been no hunt for festive re-employment, Filer instead looking to cap a breakthrough year by helping England to victory in Mumbai, where the one-off Test match starts on Friday morning.
“Even at the start of the summer I didn't think it was something I'd be doing this year - or ever really,” says the 22-year-old, who was a surprise inclusion in England’s Ashes squad back in June but excelled in putting the frighteners up the Aussies with her pace on debut at Trent Bridge.
My mum faced me once [in nets] when I was about 14 but never did it again.
“Certain things still feel a bit weird. It’s starting to become much more natural but there are still 'pinch me' moments, just where I'm standing around and we're talking about playing Test match cricket. I'm still trying to take it all in as it comes and really enjoy it.
“What a difference a year makes is incredible, it's hard to put into words.”
There has been further recognition since the summer, from the ECB in the shape of a first developmental central contract, and then the Cricket Writers’ Club with its ‘Emerging Cricketer of the Year’ prize. Though the former was probably more excitedly received, with Filer already in Oman preparing for the India tour, the latter did come with the novelty of leaving her parents, Elaine and Martyn, on acceptance duty at last month’s London awards.
“I actually got told they weren’t going to give a speech and I don’t think they were expecting to either, so when they got asked I think it was just a case of making something up at the time,” Filer says. “Because I wasn’t there I wasn’t too embarrassed but I did get a few text messages from people that I know. It was nice for them to go to something like that.”
Parental duties in the nurturing of a young cricketer mainly involved the familiar taxi routine, though there were occasionally throw-downs in the nets offered up as part of the service, too. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that was their forté,” she adds. “My mum did face me once when I was about 14 but she never did it again.”
That is unsurprising. Quickly - if you’ll forgive the pun - Filer has become established as England’s fastest bowler, clocked at 78.4mph during the Hundred and named player of the series when making her ODI bow against Sri Lanka in September.
It is in Test cricket, though, where even only on the cusp of her second cap, the Bristolian feels her skillset is currently of greatest use, a small curiosity in the women’s game, where T20 proliferates and the red ball is seldom used.
“The longer format games probably do suit my bowling more,” she says. “I think of myself as more an impact bowler where if there's a bit of a rut or we need a wicket, I can hopefully try and get that.
“I’m hoping to push [my speeds] on and hit them more consistently, even if it’s not quicker. It’s about hitting mid-to-high seventies more often, rather than mid-to-low with the occasional quicker ball.”
India, though, will pose a new challenge. Filer had never been to the country before this tour, knows turning pitches and melting conditions do not traditionally prove welcoming to fast bowlers and, having watched England’s T20 series win as a spectator in Mumbai, is under no illusions about the country’s passion for the home team.
“The atmosphere was unmatched in terms of what I've heard before,” she says. “It was mental. We went in about 20 minutes before the game started and people were queuing up outside from the seafront.
“I'd never really heard or seen that kind of atmosphere before. It was cool to see that and hopefully we'll get some sort of crowd in for the Test match as well.”
