Eng W vs NZ W – Sarah Glenn England look to rely on big names

Whenever the England men’s football team plays in a big match, Sarah Glenn brings her A game.

In England Women’s opening T20I against New Zealand, half an hour into the footballers’ Euro 2024 clash with Switzerland – which England won on penalties to reach the semi-finals – Glenn was 3 for 16 at Southampton. Lived up to his name as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

On Saturday, 24 hours before England face Spain in the Euro final, he sat at 4 for 19 from another win against New Zealand at the Oval’s post-match press conference, heading into Wednesday’s match at Lord’s with one last chance. To return home with a solitary win in eight matches.

Glenn was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the T20I leg of New Zealand’s visit with fellow England spinner Sophie Ecclestone. Glenn has taken eight wickets at a best average of 6.87 and his economy rate of 4.34 is the best in both teams. Another of England’s enviable spin trio, Charlie Dean, was rested on Saturday as part of his side’s rotation policy throughout the series, but Glenn and Ecclestone – six of New Zealand’s eight wickets – fell between them.

In the ICC’s T20I bowling rankings, Ecclestone and Glenn are ranked No. 1 and No. 2, and Dean is at No. 8. Ecclestone has held the top spot since February 2020. The in-form players are set to experiment with bat and ball ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in October.

That’s a testament to the depth they’ve built, and it’s peaking at the right time. In May, two white-ball series against Pakistan ended in victory for England, but they lacked the ruthlessness they showed against New Zealand, prompting England head coach John Lewis to suggest that his team should rise to the challenge by standard. The big stars were Ecclestone and Nat Skiver-Friend.

„Everyone acts up at some point,” Glenn said. „I feel we don’t rely on big names anymore. Everyone has stepped up their game and that’s really exciting, especially the youngsters and every player. You can pick any XI at the moment. It’s great to get back into the regionals and not just this team.

New Zealand’s reliance on big names like Susie Bates, Sophie Devin and Amelia Kerr has made them look toothless on this tour. It was emphasized by the fact that they came so close to defeating England when Devine hit the first half-century of any of the trio in T20Is with 58 in the third game at Canterbury. Alice Capsey scored an unbeaten 67 with four balls to spare as England won by 6 wickets.

In both of Glenn’s major careers, he has taken wickets in clusters. He took three in an over at Southampton and took two double-wicket overs on Saturday. She hit Georgia Plimmer at middle stump with a straight delivery, then sent down a half-tracker, Amelia Kerr slammed Capsey straight at midwicket, a dismissal Glenn admitted he would take but was not keen on watching the replay.

Glenn bowled Jess Kerr and caught Maddie Green at mid-on, the latter said: „They have a world-class spin attack and Sarah was able to come in and change the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t play that. She bowls well, Sarah Glenn and their spin attack. We need to be competitive.

Against the backdrop of a Sunday night football game gripping the nation, Glenn was asked how he prepares for the big occasion.

„I think it’s a balance of switch on and switch off,” he said. „For example, we set up meetings to chat through the grounds or some of the batters in their team, so we put them in place to have those chats and clear our heads before the game. And then, in between, switch off. We’re in the changing room, chatting a lot of rubbish, the truth. That being said, being clear about what we want to do first and giving ourselves the best chance to succeed is the real balance on our faces.”

For the record, Ecclestone is the dressing room DJ, and Glenn „Will it come home?” When asked, he believes „absolutely”. Given that the team bus has „It’s Coming Home” written in lights above the windscreen, the goal is usually on display. While the series didn’t make for a big-game occasion — even if a healthy crowd at The Oval played their part — England will soon be ready for it, and hopefully the goal remains the same.