Amy Jones column: "We're so grateful to West Indies for coming over – they are putting a lot of trust in us"

AMY JONES: In the first of a series-long column feature, the England wicketkeeper offers her thoughts on the bio-secure bubble and her struggle for form in the early months of 2020, while stressing her gratitude to Stafanie Taylor's West Indies squad

We feel very lucky to be the ones who can get women’s cricket back out there. I think it’s massive that the women’s international game has returned. There’s the Australia-New Zealand series after us as well, so it would be great to get some really good games for them to then follow on from.

Having the third game on the BBC is a huge opportunity to reach more people. On the day, it will be just like any other game, but when you really stop to think about that, it’s huge – there will be people who might just stumble across our game by chance.

That wouldn’t have happened before. Hopefully, that one in particular is a really good game because it would be great to get some more people attracted to the game that haven’t necessarily seen it before.

Before then, we have the first two games of this series; we’re so grateful to West Indies for coming over. The situation in England is considerably worse than it is over in the Caribbean, so we acknowledge what they’re risking in coming over to play.

Obviously, the environment that Derby and the ECB have created is so safe, but it is unknown for them. They are putting a lot of trust in us. I think everyone is hugely grateful.

So much has happened in just a few months. We were in our training bubble preparing for a tri-series but then India couldn’t come, so we were preparing for South Africa. And then to find out just over halfway through that they weren’t coming, we then weren’t sure if there would be any international fixtures at all.

That was quite tough for the group really because we had been in the bubble and we were preparing well for the series. So, for them not to be able to come, it was a bit of a spanner in the works. Motivation was definitely challenged at that point.

^{With Sarah Glenn, Mady Villiers and Sophie Ecclestone likely to be involved, Amy Jones will have to be at her best with the gloves}

We still had a couple of intra-squad 50-over games, but the coaches were brilliant with that – they tried to put as much on it as possible. We had a player of the series award to try to keep it competitive. And it really was – the games were so good. It didn’t feel like an intra-squad game as much as games in the past have.

We had Team Heyhoe and Team Brittin, which definitely helped us through that stage. But then we had that period where it looked like we might not get international cricket at all. Fortunately, we would have had the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy to play in, but we then had to get our heads around that and which teams we would play for – the idea that this was maybe what our summer was going to look like.

And then, we found out that the West Indies were coming. It has been quite back and forward – we’ve been picturing playing against different opposition, but it’s brilliant how much work has gone into getting the West Indies over here. I know everyone is so grateful to the ECB and Cricket West Indies for how they’ve overcome a lot of challenges to make this happen.

Kate Cross and the reflections on a summer that is finally about to start

At the same time, I think the break has definitely had its benefits – it is a chance to come back refreshed, but it’s also given us time to work on different things. As a squad, we did a lot of work on our fitness and getting our running up. It was one of the few things we could do, so we really committed to that and made some good moves as a team.

Psychologically, it was a good opportunity to reassess as well. We had a new psychologist come in, who I met over FaceTime. We had lots of sessions with her, which was brilliant – we’ve been able to think about the game slightly differently. Obviously, we couldn’t go to the nets, so areas that you probably wouldn’t have had as a priority before suddenly became a priority.

Before the pandemic we had the tri-series which led into the T20 World Cup. Games just come so thick and fast; with how much we tour these days, which is brilliant, it can take its toll.

In T20 cricket, you can only go about it one way. You have to be positive and you have to take risks. If you are short of runs, you still have to go out and play the same way. You are expected to go out there, play your shots and set the tone.

^{Jones was keen to stress her gratitude to the West Indies squad that has agreed to tour during the Covid-19 pandemic}

That can be hard if you’re a bit low on confidence. It can affect you; you’re waiting for the game where it clicks. It was a tough time; I don’t think it was as tough for me as it probably looked on the outside. I got some scores in the warmup games and in a game against Australia Academy, so I actually went into the World Cup with a bit of confidence.

It wasn’t as doom and gloom as it might have appeared, but it didn’t go my way in the first few games. Moving down the order was a big blow to me, really. I’d had my opportunity and I was gutted to move down, but it’s a team game and you have to fit in where it’s best. From our perspective, the opening partnership wasn’t performing, so something needed to change.

But now, it feels so long ago that the T20 World Cup even happened. I’m feeling really good going into this series now. I’ve batted everywhere in the top eight for England; obviously, I’d like to be as close to the top as possible, but I’m sure wherever I am, I’ll have batted there before and I’ll do what the team needs. We’re big on that.

As for the bubble, there was a lot of talk about it after the men’s first series started. We did a training camp for a couple of weeks here in Derby, before spending ten days in Loughborough too. I’d say we’re pretty used to it now, to be honest.

It was definitely strange at first; it’s a weird feeling, thinking that this is it for however long. You’re not allowed to leave, so it’s a little bit daunting. But when you’re here, the setup is so good and they’ve really thought about how to keep us entertained. The entertainment room is good fun; everyone is playing table-tennis, so it’s been a lot better than I thought it would be.

^{This is Lisa Keightley's first English summer as head coach}

It was really daunting initially. The thought of it was definitely worse than actually being here. Obviously, international series are as intense as they are without having to look out of your hotel window and see the ground there in front of you every day. There are fewer distractions now – you can’t just go out for dinner.

I think it will be interesting once the series gets underway to see how easy it is to switch off and take our minds off it just to re-energise. It has been good so far though; we’ve been lucky with the weather and we’ve done so many laps around the ground.

We’ve got such a good group of staff and players that we can just sit down and chat to anyone. That has made it much easier; we all know each other really well.

I’ve brought a few books with me. I like watching series, which has been quite easy so far. I’m watching This Is Us and there are loads of episodes, which is ideal.

Nat Sciver and Katherine Brunt brought a big coffee machine with them from home, so I like to go over there every morning and Nat will make a lovely coffee for me. There’s always someone to talk to or something to watch or read. I’m pretty low-maintenance really – I don’t feel like I get bored very easily!

Amy Jones was speaking to Nick Friend

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