Lauren Bell believes she has taken a big step towards her aim of being the best women’s fast bowler in the world with a remodelled action that brought success in South Africa.
Bell has spent much of the past year diligently working on technical tweaks to stay more upright when she bowls, which has allowed her to swing the ball both ways and gain additional pace and bounce.
Her efforts look to be paying off after an eight-wicket match haul in England’s Test triumph over the Proteas in Bloemfontein before Christmas, giving Bell a spring in her step before the Women’s Ashes.
“The whole change of action is in a really good place so now I’m not so much in a technical place,” Bell told the PA news agency.
“It’s more learning about this game that I now have; the options I have, it’s learning how and when to use them in different conditions.
“I want to be the best in the world so I’m going to have to keep bettering my game, keep working on things and keep moving things forward.
“If that means taking a few steps back then that’s that. I feel like it’s only put me in the right direction moving forward.
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“The Test match in South Africa was a perfect example of if I bowled what I used to bowl, I might not have been able to adapt to the conditions as well as I did. I had the tools to adapt and it paid off.”
The Ashes get under way on Sunday with the first of three ODIs, followed by three T20s and a one-off four-day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, all crammed into within a period of just three weeks.
Bell, as she was in a multi-format series against South Africa in December, is likely to have her workload managed at some stage but she is full of optimism around England’s other seam bowling options.
“Spin is a massive part of women’s cricket but I think it’s really exciting, the seamers we’ve got coming through,” Bell said.
Bell has been impressed with Lauren Filer’s (pictured) continuing development (Bradley Collyer/PA)
Lauren Filer troubled Australia with her extra pace 18 months ago in what was her debut international series and Bell has been impressed with her fellow seamer’s continuing development.
“It’s been amazing,” Bell added. “To see her improvements since she came in and made her debut to now is astonishing. Her pace is clearly impressive and people struggle with it.
“Hopefully the pitches will be hard and fast out here in Australia, similar to some of the ones we had in South Africa. She was very threatening out there. I’m glad she’s on my team, that’s for sure.”