'I want to get faster' - Lauren Bell on the pace race, swing bowling, and leading England's attack

Lauren Bell’s ascension to the helm of England’s pace attack has been rapid and remarkable. For years before they hung up their boots, there was concern over how England would cope without Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Sciver-Brunt, the heroes of 2017 who led the line for well over a decade. Enter Bell who, since the beginning of 2023, has taken more than double the wickets of any other England bowler in T20Is. In ODIs, she is only second to Charlie Dean in England’s overall wicket-taker standings in that time, despite having missed almost half of England’s matches in the format over the last year.

“It has been crazy when you think about it,” Bell tells Wisden.com. “I just live in what’s happening and enjoy the opportunities I’m being given… If you look at it from the last World Cup in South Africa, the last 12 months have been crazy compared to what I’d done before that. The next Ashes is just after Christmas so even looking ahead to that, there’s a lot of cricket for me to play, hopefully in all three formats.

“Leading the attack and having this responsibility is something that’s come quite quickly. It was basically coming out of the World Cup after Katherine [Sciver-Brunt] retired and then into the Ashes, it suddenly all changed that it was my job.

“Through the Ashes I wasn’t so aware of [being attack leader], but that just became more my role. I was just enjoying the responsibility that Heather gave me and, as a bowler, when you’re given responsibility from a captain, you feel like they trust you and they back you and you’re who they want to go to, it gives you confidence and gets performances out of you.”

Since the start of 2022, Bell is one of 11 fast bowlers who’ve played in a T20I for England, and one of five currently aged 23 or younger. The likes of Issy Wong, Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer are part of a crop of exciting young quicks, groomed to pack out England’s attack for the next generation. But, of all of them, up to this point, Bell is the only one who has been able to claim and maintain a place in the team.

In an England side which has struggled to successfully integrate new talent into its core over the last five years, Bell holds a significant place in their ranks.

The volume of cricket she’s now expected to play for England, however, has seen her make sacrifices. Earlier this year, she missed the WPL in order to play the entirety of England’s series in New Zealand. She also missed both white-ball series against Sri Lanka last year and has been rotated out of the side at points over the series against Pakistan.

“I’m really fortunate at this moment in my career that I’m playing a lot of cricket for England,” says Bell. “It’s amazing but I can’t play all the cricket there is. [Pulling out of the WPL] was quite a tough decision but it meant I could go into the New Zealand series and start the T20 stuff strong, and it gave me a good training block which you don’t get loads of when you play all year round. With a bit of a longer-term perspective and the World Cup, it’s put me in a better place moving forward so I’m not being bowled into the ground.”

For Bell, part of that training block included keeping up with the ever-accelerating pace race. While she relies on prodigious movement through the air as her point of difference, with speed guns clocking higher and higher speeds every year in the women’s game, pace will be an important factor in Bell’s development.

“It’s definitely something I would like to get better at,” says Bell. “I want to get a little bit faster, you see people like Lauren Filer beating the bat and rushing players and it’s amazing and it’s something I could really work on. Me and [England bowling coach] Matt Mason have chatted about it.

“I’ve done a lot of gym and strength work in the last 12 months. The big thing for seamers is to be strong enough to bowl as fast as you can and keep your positions. That comes with keeping fit and being strong enough to bowl over and over again, those are probably the two things that have worked for me and helped me to bowl quick. It’s still something I’m pushing on, and an area of my game I can improve and make progress in.”

Still, Bell's in-swing is her main weapon, and it could be a crucial tool going into this year's T20 World Cup. With pitches and conditions hard to decipher in Bangladesh, England will need to have all bases covered. Pace could be the difference, or it could be neutralised by slow surfaces. Movement might be hard to come by, so there could be a short new-ball window that needs to be maximised. That hoop in the air, she explains, is a natural gift; the challenge is to command it.

What a ball this was from Lauren Bell 🔥#TheHundred2023 pic.twitter.com/eMmiAjRp2T

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 8, 2023

“I’ve bowled in-swing since I started bowling when I was a kid,” says Bell. “A lot of it has come from my natural action, which is to come over the ball and my wrist is slightly angled. It works for me but it’s not how you would want your wrist to be. When I’m at my best it’s [the movement] only a little bit and then it goes quite a lot, but it goes late. It’s been something that I’ve naturally had since I started bowling and it’s something that I’ve worked on and learned how to control a little bit better.”

With the technical work, time spent in the gym, on the rehab bed and travelling around the world in an ever more packed women’s international schedule, all of Bell’s achievements in her young career point to a remarkable self-confidence, which she is quick to credit to her coaches for.

“From the period of turning into a professional cricketer and playing for England, Charlotte Edwards was my main coach. She probably had the biggest influence on me. She was the one that had a lot of trust in me and, as a 15/16-year-old, she saw me and realised that I had potential, and that’s really helped me. We have a really close relationship, she’s had quite a big influence on my career.

“Ever since Lewy [Jon Lewis, England head coach] has come in and taken this team on, he’s also filled me with confidence as a player. He’s backed me as a bowler and been really clear on what he wants from me and that’s helped me excel.

“The enjoyment part is the most important part of having confidence when you’re on the pitch. If you feel good and you’re happy within yourself, you’re a lot more likely to be able to perform than if you’re feeling a bit rubbish in yourself and thinking you’re not sure whether you’re good enough to be there. I remember Tammy [Beaumont], who is the best at doing this - she’s so good at it, she told me you just have to fake it until you make it. You have to go out there and make yourself look confident, strut around and look like you do know what you’re doing, then it might rub off and fill you with a bit of confidence.”

If parts of Bell’s career so far have relied on ‘faking it’, it’s frightening to comprehend what she could achieve over the next few years.

The Metro Bank Girls in Cricket Fund in collaboration with the ECB aims to triple the number of girls’ cricket teams by breaking down barriers and creating supportive and inclusive spaces. Help transform the game, head to metrobankonline.co.uk/cricket to champion the future of girls’ cricket.