Just a few months prior, Sophia Dunkley was poised to spearhead an English reorganization of a hierarchy that, in their opinion, had been dominated by Australia for an excessive amount of time. In a drawn series that saw Australia win the Ashes again, if not quite comfortably, they came close.
But Dunkley’s position in that effort was not as significant as anticipated, and that had consequences. Only now, having taken a break over the latter part of the home international summer and finding some late success in the WBBL, is Dunkley back, feeling confident about her game and ready to don the England shirt once more.
Prior to England’s Twenty20 International and Test tour of India, Dunkley told ESPNcricinfo, “On the whole, I’m quite disappointed with how I performed over the summer.” “The Ashes was a fantastic series, highly competitive, and every game was close, but I was really unhappy in my performance. It didn’t feel like it was there for me when I wanted to support the team and contribute to the endeavor.”
In the first Twenty20 International, Dunkley struck a half-century in a losing cause, following scores of 9 and 16 in the Test, which Australia won. She subsequently played a significant role in both of England’s subsequent victories, but Danni Wyatt, her opening partner, took center stage. For the ODIs, Dunkley opened with Tammy Beaumont, but he only scored 8, 13, and 2, and England won that leg 2-1 as well. Dunkley had new hurdles in the shape of increased scrutiny following a home Ashes series that attracted unprecedented public attention. She also took a break, missing the first two matches of the Women’s Hundred and both white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
“Missing the Sri Lanka series was a discussion that I had with the coaching staff and especially with the head coach and it was about resting really,” Dunkley stated.
“It was a nice opportunity for me to take a break, get away, and spend time with my loved ones and friends. The upcoming year in international cricket is going to be absolutely phenomenal. I am incredibly appreciative of my amazing coaches for giving me that time and for their support, and I feel energized and rejuvenated going into the India series. It’s wonderful that I feel like I have a fresh start after that time away.”
If anything, the spotlight is set to shine brighter in 2019. The England Women’s home international season, which features Pakistan and New Zealand, has already sold about 50,000 advance tickets. Considering that the Women’s Ashes didn’t reach the 50,000-mark until late January of this year, that is already up 30% from the same time last year. However, Dunkley believes he is more prepared to handle a demanding home summer this time around.
“You get DMs and comments all the time of opinions of people and it’s just how the game is, I guess,” she stated. “Although it can be difficult to ignore at times, it is a necessary aspect of the game and must be accepted as something that will inevitably happen because it is more visible. For me, it was simply summertime intensity—it was an incredible, enormous series. It was wonderful that we had so much support, but it was also rather depressing to know that the nation was behind us.
“I believe that because of the nature of athletics, you will occasionally hear hurtful remarks as well. It’s just one of those things, but having that experience makes sense in my opinion because you go through it and come out stronger. In a strange way, it’s made me feel better.”
Dunkley overcame a sluggish start to the WBBL season to score 262 runs in the Hundred at 37.42 with a strike-rate of 138.62 for the Melbourne Stars against the Perth Scorchers. She was part of an England team that went to India for a training camp just before leaving for Australia. The current trip begins on Wednesday with the first of three Twenty20 Internationals and ends with a four-day Test match.
However, Dunkley will not be going back to India for the WPL 2 next year. She chose not to participate in the auction after being released by Gujarat Giants. The auction is scheduled for December 9, the day of England and India’s second Twenty20 international match.
Dunkley stated, “I contemplated that choice for a considerable amount of time.” “I think the WPL is a wonderful tournament, and I had an amazing experience at Gujarat Giants and had a lot of special memories there. I definitely loved my time at the WPL last year. If I ever get the chance again, I would absolutely love to return and play. In India, cricket is a fantastic game. We have a huge international year ahead of us this year, and I believe that staying out of the auction is the best course of action for me both psychologically and physically.
“My main goal is to improve my skills and put myself in the best possible position to represent England. Making the choice wasn’t simple at all. It required a great deal of discussion and time. There’s no assurance that you will be selected if you reenter the auction, but in my situation, it was simply a matter of assessing the many options. The way the year has gone so far makes things difficult because you’re always busy and occasionally have to make choices.”
The India training camp was organized by England Women’s head coach Jon Lewis in response to the Sri Lanka series, which revealed his team’s vulnerabilities against spin bowling. It’s an area he wants to strengthen, and this bilateral series will be the first test of any progress achieved, with the T20I World Cup in Bangladesh next year and the ODI version in India in 2025.
She has made some technical adjustments for Dunkley that she hopes will pay off. Her grip, which is known for being unusually split, has gotten more open, giving her bat a clearer back path and enabling her to make smoother strokes.
“I struggled a little bit with my grip throughout the summer, which I felt limited me,” she explained. I’m going to keep working on it for the next few months or so because I’ve put a lot of work into it and it feels nice. I felt much better once I got going in the Big Bash and I’m seeing some really positive indicators at training.”
