Left-arm spinner, who returned to the England fold earlier this year, gave it “one more shot”, and earned a World Cup ticket for the UAE
Valkerie Baynes04-Oct-2024When Linsey Smith received the call to say she would be heading to another World Cup six years after her last appearance at the tournament, the emotion washed over her. After wondering whether, at the age of 29, the opportunity had passed her by, she had her second chance.”I was just over the moon to be honest – a little bit emotional,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo from England’s pre-tournament training camp in Loughborough last month. “Six years ago was when I got the first call, so it’s been a tough road. But I’m just so happy that I get the chance to represent England at a World Cup again.”Smith fell out of England’s reckoning during the summer of 2019. During her five years in the wilderness, self-doubt abounded, along with thoughts of giving up the sport, and financial struggles, as she came to terms with losing her rookie contract with England, and tried to juggle coaching and playing domestic cricket.Related
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“It was pretty tough,” Smith said. “You obviously doubt yourself, and I guess when I was in it, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be a certain way and play a certain way, and it just ate me up, really. I felt like I almost didn’t deserve to be in an England shirt with how I was playing. So coming out of it was tough.”You never want to give something away that you’ve wanted to do since you were a kid, really, but I was in a pretty dark place and I wasn’t enjoying my cricket. There were mornings of games where I’d wake up, check the weather and see, ‘Oh, it’s not raining today, damn it, I’ve got to go and force myself to get out on that pitch’, which is awful to say now.”What kept Smith going was her pure love of the game, so that’s where she went.”I sat down and thought, ‘Is this what I want to be doing anymore?’ The kid in me – all I ever wanted to do was play cricket for England – was finding it really tough,” she said. “So I thought I either give it up now or just try and go back to what made me start cricket in the first place, which was playing with my mates, and having fun and being competitive. So I just came out of that thought.”I’ll just try again here, start from fresh, not put too much pressure on myself and see how it goes. I’ve always loved playing cricket, and I was terrible in school. So I couldn’t go and find an office job. So I thought I’ll just give it one more shot and just try and enjoy myself, [and] not take it too serious. And that’s worked for me quite nicely.”So when Smith was called up to England’s squad for their tour of New Zealand at the start of this year, it marked a fresh start.”I feel in such a better place than what I was when I played for England before,” she said. “So I guess that burning desire was always there, but I’d think: ‘Are they going to go for someone who’s 29 now? Who are they going to look at – someone younger?’ So you always dream that it would happen, but you [are] never quite sure if it really will.”My mindset has completely flipped in terms of what it was six years ago to now. It’s just about having fun, being really clear on what my role is, and doing what I do well, [and] not trying to play like someone else or be someone else. Just getting those competitive juices flowing and backing myself that what I’ve done for the last five years is good enough.”During this year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup T20 domestic competition, Linsey Smith took 13 wickets at 14.76•Getty ImagesSmith joins part of a four-pronged spin attack that also includes fellow left-armer Sophie Ecclestone, legspinner Sarah Glenn, and offspinner Charlie Dean. It’s a formidable trio, but Smith brings something different again. Her strength is her relentlessness in the powerplay, along with a low, skiddy trajectory delivered from her diminutive five-feet-two-inch frame which batters find difficult to get under.”I’m not your traditional spinner that’s going to get dip and turn and nice flight, but that’s not something I’m trying to be,” Smith said. “Just being at peace with what I do and how I bowl. Actually, 29 is really not that old. I feel like I’m in my prime. I feel like I’ve grown a lot mentally more than anything. Being really clear on what my role is and how to take on those challenges of playing for England, I feel in a much better head space to do that.”Jon Lewis, England Women’s head coach, has been impressed by what he has seen of the new version of his old spinner, who he is backing to thrive in conditions in the UAE, despite initially viewing her as a key option for Bangladesh, where the World Cup was originally going to be staged.In Sharjah, where England play their first match of this World Cup on Saturday against Bangladesh, the pitch has revealed itself to be low and slow with good turn on offer. In the first two matches of the tournament there on Thursday, both low-scoring affairs, Bangladesh beat Scotland, and Pakistan’s spinners defended 116 in a 31-run victory over Sri Lanka.”I think the opportunity has reinvigorated her ambition, and she has really loved it,” Lewis said. “When you get someone in an environment they really love and they think, ‘Okay, I really like this, this is good fun, and I feel valued and I feel important’, then funnily enough, they improve.”So Linsey was a selection back in January, [or] February, definitely, with the World Cup in mind in Bangladesh. Her style in those conditions, I think, can be incredibly effective, and similarly in the UAE, I think she could be a really effective bowling force.”
“We’ve got to find a way to potentially get her into the team, but also at the same time, she’d be a really good back-up… We’ve got three really effective spinners, but Linsey in particular could be a really effective opening bowler”England head coach Jon Lewis on Linsey Smith
During this year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup, a T20 domestic competition, Smith took 13 wickets at an average of 14.76, and an economy rate of 4.92, with best figures of 3 for 9. Fitting her into the England attack isn’t necessarily easy, given the quality of their spin stocks, but having been unafraid to play three spinners during the home summer, Lewis sees a place for Smith, particularly in the powerplay.”Linsey has shown in the course of probably quite a long period of time now how effective she is in the powerplay,” he said. “If we look at her numbers in the powerplay in particular, they are outstanding – up there with the best in the world.”So we’ve got to find a way to potentially get her into the team, but also at the same time, she’d be a really good back-up. We’re more than likely going to play three [spinners] – we’ve shown our hand a little bit over the summer. We’ve got three really effective spinners, but Linsey in particular could be a really effective opening bowler.”
