England recall Sophia Dunkley for Pakistan ODIs

The batter was initially left out of both ODI and T20I squads for this series, but she has been brought back into the fold as injury cover

Nick Friend | 26/05/2024 at 12:23

Sophia Dunkley has been recalled to England Women's ODI squad for the remainder of the current series against Pakistan.

The batter was initially left out of both ODI and T20I squads for this series, but she has been brought back into the fold as injury cover. Dunkley wasn't selected for the second OD in Taunton.

Her omission originally came on the back of a poor year of international cricket. Since a half century against Australia at Edgbaston, there have been just two scores above 15 for Dunkley in England colours, and Maia Bouchier overtook her in the pecking order during the tour of New Zealand.

"The message I have sent to Sophia is I'd like to see her back playing her best cricket," said head coach Jon Lewis, when explaining those squads. "When she's playing her best cricket she's one of our best cricketers."

Almost an ever-present over the last couple of years, though, Dunkley confessed while speaking to the Under the Lid podcast, which is produced in partnership by the Professional Cricketers' Association and The Cricketer, that her omission had still come as a major disappointment.

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^{Sophia Dunkley has been back with South East Stars since being left out by England (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)}

"It is a pretty gutting thing to hear, it hurts a lot," she said. "But I think ultimately I haven't put in the performances in international cricket that I've needed to in the last nine months. So, I think right now it is a good opportunity for me to play domestic cricket and work on things to come back stronger.

"Ultimately, my ambition is to play for England and to impact games for England. I think one of the main reasons was that they didn't want to bring me on tour to sit on the bench and not play cricket. That in itself is quite a positive thing, so I can go and play."

Thar decision was vindicated, with Dunkley making scores of 67 and 130 for South East Stars in the first two games after being left out by England. She has since made 23 and 11 in two Charlotte Edwards Cup matches.

"I've spent a lot of the last six months changing a lot of my batting technique, changing a lot of my mental approach to cricket," she explained.

The Under The Lid podcast, a collaboration between The Cricketer and the PCA, aims to highlight the realities of being a professional player with weekly episodes featuring personalities from across the circuit.

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