England bowler Lauren Bell has purchased a camera ahead of what she hopes will be a summer to remember and has the perfect picture in mind for July 5.
The Women’s T20 World Cup begins on Friday when hosts England face Sri Lanka at Edgbaston and Charlotte Edwards’ team want to go all the way.
With talented seamer Bell at the peak of her powers, the 25-year-old cannot wait for the tournament to get under way and start working towards booking a date at Lord’s on July 5 for the World Cup final.
“How good would that be? A little picture with the World Cup trophy! That is the plan,” Bell told the Press Association after revealing her new camera.
“I am just going to try and take it all in and enjoy it the best I can. It is so exciting and it could very much be something that only happens once in our careers.
“I feel really fortunate that I get to be in this position and a home World Cup has come at a time in my career where I feel in a really confident place.
“I’m really happy with where my cricket is at and where we are as a team.”
The year of 2025 proved bruising for England with an Ashes whitewash followed by the dismissal of Jon Lewis and the appointment of ex-captain Edwards, but World Cup semi-final disappointment occurred in October.
England then went six months without competitive cricket and yet Edwards’ meticulous planning produced intra-squad matches in South Africa this spring and a bootcamp at an Army base in the UK.
Leadership was a big feature of the bootcamp and soon after England faced New Zealand and India without injured captain Nat Sciver-Brunt but, after vice-skipper Charlie Dean, Dani Gibson and Bell stepped up, belief is high.
“The main thing was learning about leadership. Obviously we have a captain, but everyone can take a role in leadership,” Bell said.
“A lot of it was learning about how we work with each other and I guess understanding what gets the best out of each other.
“I think we came out of it really tight as a World Cup squad, which when we’re put under a lot of pressure is going to be really important.”
It has not been all hard graft with Bell and her England team-mates involved in a photoshoot with British Vogue and displayed on Piccadilly Lights on Wednesday as part of a ‘This Feels Different’ campaign by Metro Bank.
Inspiring the next generation has always been high on Bell’s priority list and she sparked a trend among young girls when she wore plaits at a previous T20 World Cup.
Bell said: “That was a really lovely moment when that happened. Doing my hair is important to me and the way I did it inspired young girls to be like, ‘I want to do my hair like that and play cricket, because that’s fun’. I love that side of things.
“I think I’ve grown in this space with confidence that who I am is OK and it’s very much accepted. It’s amazing I can be like this and still be really good at cricket and really athletic, but also care that my nails match my kit or do my hair.
“As you can imagine, some of our team like Linsey Smith were in their element in a bootcamp, but not in her element doing a Vogue photoshoot.
“I was happy doing the Vogue photoshoot, but crawling in the mud was not my thing and that’s team sport because you have different characters.”
After watching the Lionesses and Red Roses triumph at home, England have no shortage of motivation.
“If you look at the Lionesses and Red Roses and what happened when they won, it was crazy for their sport and it really kicked on. With the characters in our dressing room, we have got the opportunity to have that moment,” Bell said.
