England will follow the aggressive mindset of the men’s team as they fine-tune preparations for the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, according to bowler Sarah Glenn.
Jon Lewis’ squad play their final warm-up ahead of the tournament against New Zealand in Cape Town on Wednesday following an impressive victory over the hosts in a high-scoring contest.
Three England batters all made half-centuries on Tuesday as Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Sophia Dunkley – whose 50 came off just 15 balls – were on the front foot in Stellenbosch.
England then followed that up with the ball as Kate Cross, Lauren Bell and Glenn each took three wickets to help close out a 17-run win.
Since being appointed in May last year, head coach Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes have transformed the fortunes of the men’s national team, encouraging an attacking style of play which has delivered victory in nine of the last 10 Test matches.
Glenn feels taking elements of ‘Bazball’ into the shorter format can provide England with an extra edge as they look to break Australia’s dominance of the women’s game.
“You can see that the men’s team have developed this ethos of being really aggressive as well,” Glenn said.
“It was quite inspiring to watch, especially in some of the Test matches which was really good to see how they were panning it out. Quite a few of us were thinking, ‘Oh, we would love to play that kind of cricket’.
“It has always been in us and Lewy (Jon Lewis) is really bringing it out. Part of the process is believing we can do it, and he is making us do that.
“As long as we keep pushing for that and if England cricket can all have the same mindset, together as the men and the women’s team, then I think we can create something really special.”
That determination also feeds through to the bowlers, Glenn having finished with three for 30 from her impressive four-over blast against South Africa on Tuesday.
“We want to be aggressive always looking to take wickets,” she said. “In T20 cricket when people are coming at you, you can often go into your shell.
“(Lewis) is just really encouraging us to just break that and just looking always for the aggressive option, no matter how we go about that.”
Last time England last faced New Zealand in the Commonwealth Games bronze medal match last August, they slumped to an eight-wicket defeat on home soil having crumbled to 110 for nine.
Glenn is confident things will be different when the two sides meet again at Western Province Cricket Club.
“We have always had the right mindset in terms of what we have wanted to achieve, which is to inspire and entertain everyone,” she said.
“The difference now is that we are piecing it together and are all under the same boat of how we want to play our cricket, so I think it is a really crucial time for us.”
England begin their World Cup campaign on February 11 against the West Indies in Paarl.
Glenn added: “We are also not playing reckless cricket, we are doing it really smartly.
“We can see that clicking as a team and it is really exciting to see it all piecing together.”
