Jon Lewis: I think we’re just scratching the surface of what this team is capable of

It’s a stark contrast from where they were a year ago. In a disappointing 2022 summer, they failed to medal in a home Commonwealth Games and were whitewashed in an ODI series by India. Central to their change in fortunes is their head coach, Jon Lewis.

“I think we’re just scratching the surface of what the team is capable of,” Lewis tells Wisden.com. “My primary reflection is that I’m really excited about what we’ve achieved in such a short space of time.”

Lewis has been in charge of England since last November. It’s cliche to say the side has played with more freedom and positivity, but that is what they’ve done. That was epitomised by their aggressive approach in the T20 World Cup in South Africa, and their tenacity in pulling the Ashes back from the brink. The terms Lewis uses – fearlessness and intent – have been repeated so many times by coaches and players alike that their impact has been reduced, but he has managed to instil feeling into that ambiguity, and the effect is clear to see.

“You’ve got to walk the talk,” says Lewis. “You can talk as much as you like in cricket teams, in dressing rooms, team meetings or one to one with players. But you have to back that up with your actions as a coach.”

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Much of what England were able to achieve this summer was built off their winter’s work. After bowing out in the semi-finals in South Africa, Lewis and several members of England’s playing group travelled to India for the WPL. Having received his first job in the women’s game four months ago, six weeks as head coach of UP Warriorz was a valuable experience if, by Lewis’ own admission, unexpected.

“That was a real surprise to go and do that,” he says. “It was actually really useful in terms of research into the women’s game to speed up my understanding of all the players around the world and how they play.

“A lot of the insight I got from the WPL really helped to help me through the Ashes, in terms of understanding the Australian players. Three of their senior players were playing in my franchise and that was really useful to get an understanding of how they play and think. It really shaped how we played against them.”

“It’s really hard to be a professional cricketer,” says Lewis. “Being under scrutiny the whole time, every game you play is on TV and everyone’s talking about you. The scrutiny is going up on an almost monthly basis in women’s sport now. Having an understanding of that, and giving the players a firm belief that you’re backing them all the way and not contradicting yourself in the dressing room means they start to feel like you’re not making it all up.

“If we are able to give them the right dose of playing time, the right dose of training time and the right dose of development time in terms of skill development, then we can really balance out their programme and develop a really strong group of young players because what we’ve got in terms of raw talent and raw ability is phenomenal. Other countries will be so jealous of what our talent pool is.”

While the years before Lewis might have marked a stagnation of that progress, a broad acceptance that the best England could hope for was second-best to Australia’s dominance, the next few years are an opportunity to leap forward.

“We have lots of options and a really deep amount of talent that’s developing all the time for the next World Cup and the next Ashes series and the following World Cup after that,” he says. “That’s three in three years so we’ve got a lot of high-level cricket to play. I want all our best players to be ready and also our best young players to be pushing those players to keep improving.

“There’s a long way to go with the team. Which is really exciting.”