England sealed their first win in a women’s Test for over a decade today (December 17), eclipsing the noise to let their all-format, all-conditions attack take centre stage.
The comical fashion in which the Test match concluded in Bloemfontein summed up the helter-skelter nature of its final hour. Nonkululeko Mlaba, who had spun her way through England just a session before to pick up 10 wickets in the match, was pictured in slow motion jumping over the crease as a throw from Lauren Bell dismantled the stumps. As Bell rubbed the ankle she’d inadvertently stopped the ball with half-jumping out of its way, the TV director focussed on the wrong end of the pitch for a full 15 seconds before switching view to the run out.
The correct view signalled permission for England to celebrate, finally the winning side in a Test match for the first time since the 2014 Ashes series, Heather Knight and Nat Sciver-Brunt the only two survivors from that match still in the side in Bloemfontein. Just as on that occasion, England’s victory was sealed by a fourth-innings rout from their bowlers.
Bell and Lauren Filer both struck before Tea on day three, less than six overs into South Africa’s innings. While Filer trapped Anneke Bosch with a brutal full ball in front of the stumps to trigger the interval, Bell had found considerable movement off the seam to pin Laura Wolvaardt three overs before.
This Test was the third time in 18 months Filer and Bell were both in England’s Test attack. But, in the absence of injured Kate Cross, it was the first time they’d bowled in tandem with the new ball. They likely wouldn’t have been used in that way had Cross been fit to play, but England now have a blueprint they’ll have to think long and hard about breaking up when they step out in Test whites again at the MCG.
A century on Test debut for Maia Bouchier, and a second Test hundred for Nat Sciver-Brunt 💯
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 15, 2024
Sciver-Brunt brought up the landmark in 96 deliveries – the fastest century in women's Tests 👏
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/eImt05g0M7#SAvENG pic.twitter.com/Or97bxvBNQ
Filer’s express pace has added a layer to England’s attack which they’ve been missing for years. Bowled in short sharp bursts across South Africa’s first innings, she was their most threatening bowler through the second day, firing well-directed, hostile bouncers to rough up batters and mixing up her lengths to entice dangerous drives. In contrast, while Filer looked dangerous with both new and old ball, Bell was doubly so with a fresh cherry. She took three wickets as soon as the new ball was taken across two overs yesterday, and had four in her first eight today - central to South Africa’s capitulation
In amongst the carnage of the Laurens was Sophie Ecclestone’s calm. There are few plaudits left to levy at Ecclestone, who’s still only 25, but her spell in South Africa’s first innings of 1-40 off 25 overs was a key component of England’s victory. England were able to score at over four an over in their first innings, putting on 395 in 92 overs. South Africa batted just 20 balls fewer but were still 114 runs behind by the time their final wicket fell.
In those three, England have what looks to be their most complete attack of the modern era. With so much anxiety around replacing Katherine Sciver-Brunt’s and Anya Shrubsole’s experience following their retirements, England have landed on a more versatile attack, with the potential to be a winning combination in all conditions.
They’re also complemented by those around them. Cross will likely come back in for the Ashes Test in just over a month’s time as England’s most experienced Test seamer by a mile. But there are options beyond, and her record across her last four Tests - 10 wickets at 47.60 - might push them to bring them in.
Ryana MacDonald-Gay dismissed Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk with beauties on Day Two in Bloemfontein, and while she has a way to go to find the same consistency and potency as Bell and Filer, there’s enough there to indicate significant promise. Other options include Mahika Gaur, just awarded her first central contract and fresh out of school standing at six foot four. A bowling attack with two six-foot plus bowlers would make England’s unique.
The caveat to this is that England have had Bell and Filer, as well as left and right-arm spin with Ecclestone and Charlie Dean, in their Test attack previously without yielding results. And perhaps the continued infrequency with which women’s Tests are played render results hard to decipher outside of the brief euphoria when they occur.
But, the bigger picture includes a 50-over World Cup next year, away from the T20 hit and miss England have struggled to find consistency in over the last two years. At the centre of that new cycle is this attack, no longer as young or as raw as it was three years ago. And if the Bloemfontein blueprint can hold true, they have the potential to be the heartbeat of a resurgence.
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