Sarah Glenn refreshed after "really tough" winter decision

Until last night, Glenn's last international wicket had come in September, while she hasn't featured in an ODI since last July

It would be easy to forget that Sarah Glenn is the second-ranked T20I bowler in the world, given the way her winter subsided.

Until last night, when she bowled Anneke Bosch in England's six-wicket win over South Africa, her last international wicket had come in September, while she hasn't featured in an ODI since last July.

It took a courageous decision to opt out of the World Cup, where she had been lined up as a travelling reserve at the end of a lengthy Ashes tour during which the leg-spinner only played a minor part and had been subject to a raft of Covid restrictions.

"I think it was what I needed," she admitted at Chelmsford, where England sealed victory in the multiformat series. "It was a really tough decision, and it was quite hard seeing the girls, but I was just fangirling from home.

"I have been watching the girls from home and it has kind of inspired me because I am like, 'come on, I want to do that' and to help the team push it forward.

"You can easily be a bit nervous and put pressure on yourself, which I kind of naturally do in every game I ever play, I always get a bit nervous, but for me seeing how much they have dominated has made me want to be on the pitch even more.

"It just made me really clear, and I did a lot of training sessions by myself, just figuring out things by myself with a clear head and that just helped so much. It has made me have so much more clarity coming into this summer."

^{Glenn's last international wicket came last September (James Chance/Getty Images)}

Specifically, she has simplified her bowling: shortening her run-up to increase her rhythm and stability, an alteration that has allowed her to work on her googly and other variations.

She added: "With all of that, I practiced it in pre-season so I knew I had it in the locker and I could just keep it simple for the summer. I think both have helped massively."

Glenn enjoyed a remarkable start to her international career, dismissing Ash Gardner, Rachael Haynes, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp, Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin and Stafanie Taylor within her first 20 T20I wickets.

But she has struggled more recently, with teams becoming wise to her skillset and the emergence of Charlie Dean pushing her further down the 50-over pecking order.

She featured in the Ashes opener in January but was taken for 39 runs in three overs and left out for the remainder of the series, so there was some understandable trepidation when thrown the ball as an England bowler for the first time this summer.

"I was very nervous actually and then when I saw Heather, she was like, 'Okay, next over', and it was like, 'okay, deep breath'.

"Once I got through my first over I was fine, and I just really soaked up the atmosphere. It was such a good atmosphere here tonight and it was nice to see the fans after."

^{Glenn returned to cricket with Central Sparks after her winter with England (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)}

Her recall allowed for the renewal of her axis with Sophie Ecclestone, the only bowler listed higher in the ICC rankings.

"We just keep it really, really simple and we have very similar characteristics of how we want to bowl," said Glenn.

"We want to be aggressive, we want to bowl stump to stump and obviously Soph is much more experienced, so I kind of always follow her steps. I am always asking her questions, being a little bit of a coach's pet, but she has helped me a lot and guided me in my international career so hopefully she can keep teaching me over the years."

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