Charlotte Edwards to introduce new fitness standards for England Women

England's women will need to meet minimum fitness standards ahead of their home T20 World Cup next year under changes introduced by new head coach Charlotte Edwards.

Speaking on the eve of her first match since being appointed on April 1 - the first of three T20Is against West Indies in Canterbury - Edwards demonstrated how she had addressed key issues faced by the England squad after the 16-0 Ashes defeat which cost her predecessor, Jon Lewis, his job and Heather Knight the captaincy.

They included criticism of fitness levels among some of the group and several aspects of England's game, including fielding, which let them down terribly last time they played West Indies at October's T20 World Cup.

England went down by six wickets that night and were eliminated from the tournament at the group stage, with West Indies progressing instead. They lost Knight to injury while batting and dropped five catches, as Qiana Joseph and captain Hayley Matthews both scored fifties at the top of the order to break the back of a modest run chase.

That defeat in Dubai laid bare the need to develop depth in England's leadership, which was exposed when Nat Sciver-Brunt emerged as the only viable choice to replace Knight after her nine years as captain. There have also been personnel changes at the top of the batting order and in the bowling attack, both in the Powerplay and at the death.

England will appoint a leadership group under Sciver-Brunt on a series-by-series basis for the next three or four series, which also includes three ODIs against West Indies and two home white-ball series against India.

For the T20Is against West Indies, Sciver-Brunt's deputies will be Amy Jones, Charlie Dean and Sophia Dunkley. Jones stood in as captain last time India visited England, in 2022, when Knight was injured and Sciver-Brunt took a mental wellbeing break.

"Clearly, we had to touch on the fitness issue," Edwards said. "When I came in, I said it's all about individual improvement for the first six months. So before this, the World Cup, it's about individuals improving as much as they can in that time. I'm not going to set fitness standards because there hadn't been any standards in place, so I felt like I was defeating the object.

"But hopefully in 12 months' time, the players are very aware that there will be minimum fitness standards come this time next year, which the players will have to adhere to. There has to be more accountability in the area. But what I will say is that I've been so impressed with their standards, the way they've gone about stuff. I couldn't be more impressed in that area."

Edwards' squad selections - made in conjunction with new national selector Lydia Greenway, plus Clare Connor and Jonathan Finch - and her direction that England contracted players must play the first seven rounds of domestic cricket reflect how she plans to address the on-field improvement targets.

Emma Lamb has earned a recall to the ODI squad as the leading run-scorer in the Metro Bank One Day Cup with 577 runs, averaging 82.42, at the expense of Maia Bouchier. Issy Wong is back in the bowling ranks for the T20Is and Emily Arlott stands to make her international debut after being named in both squads.

Wong battled rhythm and run-up issues after a successful time at the WPL in 2023, where she played for Edwards' Mumbai Indians, but she impressed on the recent England A tour of Australia. Arlott has twice been called into England Test squads without making her debut - in 2022, she was forced to withdraw after contracting Covid-19 - but has won another chance after taking 14 wickets at 20.85 in domestic 50-over cricket this season, as well as hitting a maiden hundred against Essex.

Both are expected to offer options alongside Lauren Bell in the powerplay and at the death. Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone is playing for Lancashire after picking up a knee injury at the WPL which ruled her out of selection for the West Indies series.

"We've obviously got a really good core group of spinners, but the death bowling is an area that we know we need to improve in and the stats don't lie in that area," Edwards said. "It is just great to see Issy Wong with a smile back on her face. We've all seen over the last couple of years she's had a tough time.

"Emily Arlott has put her hand up for a number of seasons but hasn't been able to get herself into this group and I'm just so pleased for her because I've watched her train over the last two days and she's an outstanding talent in terms of what she offers with the ball, but more importantly, her lower-order hitting.

"She intrigued me. She always used to get wickets against the Vipers, so I didn't like that particularly. Speaking to her in the last couple of days, she thought her England dream was over pretty much when she got Covid a couple of years ago. She's ready, she's really ready to go on and play international cricket."

West Indies' failed qualifying campaign last month means they won't feature at the 50-over World Cup in India later this year. But while they are without big hitters Deandra Dottin and Chinelle Henry, Edwards said England wouldn't take their opponents lightly.

"When we get the opportunity in games, we've got to be really, really ruthless," Edwards said. "We'll be judging the team on whether we win and how we win and keep pushing ourselves in that respect, but we will in no way be underestimating West Indies. The last time we played against them, they beat them in the big game so we've got to be really respectful.

"Clearly, we want to field really well. That's an area we've worked really hard on over the last few weeks, and hopefully bring energy in that area. We've got a 50-over World Cup ahead of us in six months and a T20 World Cup a year ahead so this T20 series is about looking at players in different roles and seeing how they perform."

When she took the head coach role, Edwards said she was keen to employ consultant coaches and on Wednesday, the Australian Luke Williams was announced as the first of those appointments, for the duration of West Indies' visit.

Williams is head coach of WBBL side Adelaide Strikers and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the WPL. He has also worked as Edwards's assistant at Southern Brave in the Hundred, with Australia Women A and with the Strikers' men's side.