Fifty-over cricket is Charlotte Edwards’s Big Project. The day she was announced as the new England head coach, she declared that the national side had “underperformed” in the one‑day format of late, and that she was making it her “first priority” before the World Cup in India in October.
All eyes, then, on this three‑match ODI series against India, which began on Wednesday at Southampton with a narrow four-wicket win by the visitors.
Earlier, England had wobbled perilously after choosing to bat first: Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones – who shared consecutive double-century partnerships earlier in the summer against West Indies – fell within the opening four overs, and the usually solid Nat Sciver‑Brunt met with relative failure in her first innings back after a groin injury, falling to a sprawling catch by Rodrigues at short midwicket for 41.
But England found a measure of salvation in the unlikely shape of Dunkley and Davidson-Richards, who shared a 106-run stand for the fifth wicket across 23 overs. Under Jon Lewis, Dunkley failed to find a settled role in the ODI side (batting anywhere from No 1 to No 5), while Davidson-Richards failed to find any role at all – this being her first ODI since September 2023.
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Theirs was a partnership built on the most unglamorous of foundations – 69 of the 106 runs were singles – and both were dropped along the way but, given the track record of England’s brittle middle order, it did offer hope that players who do not have the name Heather Knight or Nat Sciver‑Brunt might be capable of digging England out of a hole.
“We’re trying to be a little bit smarter with how we go about that middle period,” Dunkley said. “Potentially in the past we might have gone a bit hard and lost a couple of wickets. We’re trying to see the real value of having set batters in at the end, and taking those partnerships as deep as possible.”
Acceleration came in the last nine overs: Davidson-Richards dashed down the track and was stumped; then Dunkley proceeded to score 33 more runs off 22 balls, bowled swinging off the final ball of the innings.
Edwards watched from the same balcony, at the same ground, from where she commanded Southern Vipers to five domestic titles, assessing whether this is the XI who might win her similar glory on the international stage. On the evidence of this game, the jury is out.
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