Lauren Filer

Australia's batters soon found out what then England head coach Jon Lewis meant when he described Lauren Filer as bowling "with more pace than probably anyone in the country" at the time she was picked to make her international debut in the Ashes Test of 2023.

Filer, who had featured for the England academy and Western Storm, left Trent Bridge with four wickets for the match and plenty of respect. Ellyse Perry, who provided two of those wickets, said Filer was "extremely impressive" and "brought the game alive". Clocked at 76 mph/123kph on the opening day, Filer attributed a winter spent remodelling her action with Matt Mason, England's fast-bowling coach, and Jack Brooks, the veteran Somerset seamer, with helping her bowl faster. But faster was yet to come.

Having been sacked from her supermarket job because she was playing too much cricket the previous Christmas, Filer went on to make her ODI debut against Sri Lanka later in the summer. She earned a call-up to the tour of New Zealand in early 2024, where she made her T20I debut, and it was against the same opposition at home a few months later that she recorded her career-best bowling figures in the format with 2 for 17 from three overs.

But it was against India a year later that Filer's speed truly turned heads again, as she averaged 76mph in bowling the fastest recorded over in women's cricket during England's five-run victory in the third T20I at The Oval. She was twice clocked at 79mph in her fourth over and said the magical 80mph mark was firmly on her radar.