Lauren Winfield-Hill: 'Good fielding shows how much you're willing to commit'

Fitness never fails to land as a touchy topic in sport.

Charlotte Edwards doesn't even like saying it anymore, instead referring to "the F-word" as new head coach of an England Women's squad who found this side of their game called into question after repeated failures on the big stage.

Lauren Winfield-Hill - a veteran of 104 England caps, most recently in 2022, and the picture of a professional athlete still going strong on the domestic circuit at the age of 34 - believes "sometimes you've got to be careful with your language of what is fitness in cricket".

"I think the biggest thing is the physicality and the athleticism," she tells ESPNcricinfo. "Can you hold long spells as a bowler? Can you get up and down for twos as a batter? And how good's your fielding; are you cutting twos, are you taking catches?"

If that falls under the banner of fitness, Winfield-Hill says "yeah, there's some big improvements to be made" in the England Women's squad.

"I sort of prefer the athleticism and the physicality piece," she adds. "Sometimes we can get skewed with fitness: 'Can you run for a long time? Do you look athletic?' and all this sort of stuff and that's irrelevant."

At the T20 World Cup in Dubai in October, two straightforward catches went down amid a rash of fielding errors as West Indies raced to a powerplay of 67 without loss in pursuit of 142. A further three catches went down and England found themselves scrambling in the field as their opponents romped to a six-wicket win with two overs to spare, knocking them out of the tournament at the group stage.

"The fielding was poor at times, very, very poor, and the movement and the cutting twos and things like that," Winfield-Hill says. "And that's not a blanket thing for every single player. There's some players that can certainly make strides in that area, there's some players that are great athletes.

"Across the board, I feel like the physical stuff, it's almost like your commitment to everyone else. Batting and scoring runs, that piece is quite selfish, you can just look after yourself. Bowling is quite similar. But the fielding is the bit that you do for everyone else. If you are fielding a square leg for Lauren Bell, it's not really for you, it's for Lauren Bell. It's captivating this bit where we're all in and we're willing to work really damn hard for each other and go through it a bit, get in there and get some tough sessions in, get down and dirty and show how much you're willing to commit to each other."

Winfield-Hill points out that a relentless schedule, including ever-expanding franchise leagues which disperse players for extended periods of time, adds to the challenge, but says a willingness to work harder and commit to one another as team-mates is crucial.

She is well-qualified to comment, based on her experience, longevity and performance.

The physical stuff, it's almost like your commitment to everyone else. Batting and scoring runs, that piece is quite selfish. But the fielding is the bit that you do for everyone elseWinfield-Hill on the need for basic standards in the field

For two years running, in 2022 and 2023, she was the leading run-scorer in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy with 470 runs at 78.33 and 663 at 51.00. She is a gun fielder and handy wicketkeeper, having assumed the latter role throughout her four seasons in The Hundred to date.

Plus, she looks like one of the fittest players in the country. But is it okay to say that?

If so, why is it that when professional athletes are paid to engage in physical activity, there is a squeamishness about the word, fitness?

Boiled down, a lack of fitness is often seen as a euphemism for being fat because no one calls anyone fat in the media any more, for good reason. It wasn't so long ago that they did, with devastating consequences.

At the premier of his Disney+ documentary last month, Andrew Flintoff spoke of how the media still hadn't apologised for brutally fat-shaming him 25 years ago. In 2020, he revealed that the criticism had driven him to bulimia.

That episode involved a cruel takedown of Flintoff's physical appearance amid leaked information over his off-field behaviour when what he really needed was help.

So by the time Ollie Robinson was told privately and via the media that he needed to get fitter by Jon Lewis, the then England men's bowling coach who would go on to become England Women's head coach, during a dire Ashes campaign in 2021-22, was that a comment on his appearance, conduct or the fact he had broken down a number of times during the tour?

When Alex Hartley, the former England spinner turned commentator first criticised the women's team following their T20 World Cup exit she said: "I'm not going to name names, but if you look at them, you know. You know who's blowing a gasket and who isn't. About 80% of the England team are fit and athletic enough, but there are girls in that side who are letting the team down when it comes to fitness."

She then drew comparisons with the 15 or 16 "genuine athletes" in the Australia squad so the issue inevitably blew up again when England lost the Ashes 16-0.

What it all comes down to is performance - players being able to execute the skills required to win games.

Dane van Niekerk and Lizelle Lee would argue they didn't get the chance to prove themselves in that respect at the end of their international careers. Van Niekerk never played for South Africa again after failing to run 2km in the prescribed time for selected for the T20 World Cup in 2023 and Lee retired from international cricket amid a dispute over a weigh-in the previous year.

Cricket South Africa subsequently relaxed fitness requirements for men and women, allowing for more discretionary selection.

For England, an increased focus on performance as a selection tool has begun with Edwards calling on all centrally contracted players to be available for the first seven rounds of the domestic 50-over competition.

"I love that domestic cricket has been really valued," Winfield-Hill says. "For a few years it's sort of been like, 'oh, don't play if you don't want to', and volume of runs or wickets within the domestic structure is not really necessarily being considered.

"Asking the players to play and to dominate and to perform because it's an open forum and it's a bit of a trial for everyone, it's a great thing. You need players who are currently in possession to be kept on their toes and you'll see who the best players in the country are. It is the performance world and it should be about who performs. It's a stats driven game. You're there to score runs and take wickets, and whoever's doing that should have a good opportunity of wearing an English shirt… it is the fairest way to do it, and then there's no questions about selections."

Again, the Australians are held up as an example.

"I hate banging on about the Aussies, I think our domestic structure is better," says Winfield-Hill. "I feel like I'm a good judge because I've played in both countries for the last two years. Domestically we play a much larger volume of cricket and the only way you get good at cricket is by playing a lot of cricket.

"But one thing they do do is they're very rigid on their selections and if you absolutely don't tear up domestic cricket and you're not a good athlete and you're not a good team person, you won't be playing for Australia. It's not just like, 'oh, you've performed in domestic levels, so we'll give you a go.' It's like, 'no, you need to knock these people off their perch.' I'd love to see that in England."

England hopefuls have no shortage of opportunities to show what they can do under the new county-based domestic structure.

Edwards has frequented the grounds throughout the opening rounds of the Metro Bank One Day Cup, where Winfield-Hill captains Yorkshire in Tier 2.

The Vitality T20 Women's County Cup also gets underway on Monday, featuring teams from all three tiers of domestic cricket in a knockout competition over the next three weeks.

Winfield-Hill hasn't retired from international cricket. But while she has agreed a loan deal to play for Tier 1 team Essex in the T20 blast starting later this month, she says that while her best playing years lay ahead, "I just don't necessarily realistically think that's in an England shirt".

The move to Essex seems more about testing herself by playing at the highest level possible which, with her 35th birthday approaching in August, should stand as an inspiration for players younger and older.

"I've obviously got a four-year contract at Yorkshire and I'm like, I don't have to retire in four years," she says. "Touch wood, I feel like I'm somebody that physically looks after myself, but I am looking around at Faf du Plessis, Wayne Madsen, they're in their forties and they're still great athletes going really well. Why do you have to stop? We put limitations on things just because it's not been done before and it's like, well, it can be done and you can play till you're 40 if you want to play till you're 40.

"The way the game is now, the way women's sport is now, people can play for a lot longer. The sports medicine is way better in terms of the support that you get, how you can look after yourself and the actual money means that you can keep playing without having to get 'a real job'.

"I've always said I am going to play until either my body's buggered or it's not fun anymore, whichever comes first. If it's fun, then you're obviously performing. If you're not performing, it's not fun."

Performances that make cricket fun? Now there's an F-word the England team might be happy to say in full.