Amy Jones

Following Sarah Taylor as England wicketkeeper would be a tough ask for any young cricketer, but Amy Jones looked increasingly secure in the role as she became a regular across formats from 2018, having played only a handful of internationals early in her career while acting as Taylor's reserve.

Jones made 41 against Sri Lanka in the 2013 World Cup and was part of the side that finished as runners-up to Australia in the 2014 T20 World Cup but found opportunities hard to come by. She continued to impress for the England Academy, however, and was unfortunate to miss out on selection for the 2015 Ashes Test after making 155* in a warm-up against the touring Australians.

Her breakthrough innings in an England shirt came in defeat, but after six years around the side without an international half-century, her 94 against India in Nagpur in early 2018 put to bed any doubts about her ability with the bat. Two more ODI fifties followed as an opener against New Zealand that summer, and she anchored the run chase in the T20 World Cup semi-final before England fell at the final hurdle.

With increasing fluency and power, Jones hit three fifties on the bounce in Sri Lanka in March 2019, and scored consistently and quickly in the T20I series that followed and at home to West Indies. Her form deserted her in the Ashes, barring a gritty 60 in the Test in Taunton, and despite being backed ahead of Tammy Beaumont as an opener in the T20 World Cup side in early 2020, she struggled for consistency and a drop to the middle order thereafter was a better fit.

Jones's resurgence as an ODI opener during the home summer of 2025 was particularly eye-catching. Her 122 in the first game against West Indies ended a 12-year wait for an international century and was followed by 129 in the second. Prior to that, Jones had opened the batting 22 times in ODIs but not since the 2019 Women's Ashes, and by maturing into the role, she gave England some batting security heading into the World Cup.