It is not often an England cricket coach gets a winter clear of international fixtures.
England have not played since their semi-final defeat by South Africa at the Women’s World Cup in India. They do not play again until a one-day international and T20 series against New Zealand, starting on 10 May, before hosting the T20 World Cup in June and July.
It is a point of reflection for Charlotte Edwards, who took over last April with the team at a low ebb – possibly the lowest in its history.
The Ashes had been lost 16-0. Coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight had been sacked. The squad’s fitness and professionalism were being called into question.
“They were really low in confidence,” Edwards tells BBC Sport.
“That was probably the one thing that really stood out and that Ashes down under was a really hard one to get over for some of the players.”
The questions over fitness and its subsequent impact on their fielding dominated the start of Edwards’ tenure.
In her first weeks, she said players would be “accountable” for their fitness and introduced minimum standards.
“Setting out some real clear professional standards that I expect and we expect as a group was really, really important,” Edwards says.
Edwards added each player has an individual development plan and she “can’t speak highly enough” of the squad’s reaction to the changes.
“We were the best fielding team in the World Cup and to turn that around as quickly as we did from the Ashes is testament to the hard work the group has put in and the coaches as well,” she says.
Defeat by the Proteas left a feeling little had changed, however. At the crunch, England had gone soft. Again.
In the aftermath, an Edwards comment about having to “look at the future” stood out.
This winter has provided that chance.
While her senior players were away before Christmas at the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia, Edwards was in the UK. She worked with others from her recent squads but also those next in line and the Under-19s.
In place of fixtures, England have arranged three training camps over the coming months, the first of which takes place this week in Oman.
Another follows in South Africa before the best 30 players in the country will travel to the United Arab Emirates for an intra-squad series.
“We’re going to be putting the best against the best and we’ll get a very, very clear indication of where that next group of players are,” Edwards says.
Wicketkeeper Kira Chathli, 18-year-old spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman, both of Surrey, Essex batter Jodi Grewcock, Hampshire keeper Rhianna Southby and Warwickshire all-rounder Charis Pavely are all in Oman in a hint at who may be next in line.
They will be joined by Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Lauren Filer, Danielle Gibson, Freya Kemp, Em Arlott, Issy Wong, Mahika Gaur and Emma Lamb, who have all been capped previously.
Other high-profile absences can be easily explained.
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, Lauren Bell, Sophie Ecclestone, Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Linsey Smith are at the Women’s Premier League in India while others like Amy Jones, Tammy Beaumont, former captain Knight and Sophia Dunkley are being given time off after the WBBL, as is 18-year-old Hundred sensation Davina Perrin.
But deciding when to look to the next generation can be the toughest part for any head coach across sport, especially when a World Cup looms.
Edwards will be the coach to make that call on a current crop that have led the women’s game for a generation.
“We’re trying to create that competitive edge now to our players so that it’s not all done and dusted who’s in the team,” she says.
“I spoke to the players the other day about that. I said everyone in this room is in contention of playing at a World Cup. It doesn’t matter if you’re 18 or 35.”
Opportunities may of course come sooner to others because of the gaps to fill.
Edwards name-checks the need for a “bowling all-rounder” – a boost for the likes of 20-year-old Kemp, who has spent three years dogged by back stress fractures, and Gibson, who missed the World Cup with the same issue.
A lack of left-handers has been an issue since Lydia Greenway retired in 2016 – so much so former bowler Tash Farrant was seconded from the commentary box in India to provide a left-hander for bowlers to practise against.
Kemp, the highly rated Grewcock, and Pavely, 21, have an advantage there.
“I don’t want easy selections,” Edwards says. “I want it to be hard.
“I want people to be banging on the door and saying ‘you’ve got to pick me’ and that’s hopefully where we’ll get to come to the end of Abu Dhabi.”
