The Ashes 2023: Why England's lack of left-handed batters leaves a 'huge gap'

England volition spell into the T20 bid against Australia successful the Women's Ashes with nary left-handed batters successful their 16-player squad.

It leaves a "huge gap" successful England's skillset says Lewis, with a operation of near and right-handers often picked truthful bowlers are incapable to get into a bushed and batters tin capitalise connected immoderate abbreviated boundaries.

BBC Sport person worked with information analysts CricViz to crunch the numbers and enactment retired if the contented is isolated to England.

What bash the numbers say?

According to research astir 10% of the colonisation are left-handed, with a BBC Newsround article successful 2022 saying numbers were thought to beryllium betwixt 10-12%.

Therefore you would presume England would person astir that percent of left-handers successful their squad astatine immoderate fixed time, right?

Wrong.

Since 1 April 2016, and the status of aggregate World Cup victor Lydia Greenway, who scored much than 4,000 runs successful 225 internationals, England person had conscionable 2 left-handed batters.

In Test matches it is nary from 17, and past 2 from 29 and 31 successful one-day internationals and T20s respectively - 6.9% and 6.45% if converted.

The non-England women's mean per twelvemonth implicit the aforesaid clip play is 16.94%, with the pursuing array showing however galore left-handed women the main nations person selected.

While England conflict to nutrient left-handers, they are not needfully unsocial successful the women's game.

It is simply a occupation we tin isolate to the women's crippled successful this country, with the men's broadside having had 21 left-handed batters successful the aforesaid period.

The glaring disparities commencement to amusement themselves erstwhile you see the roles of left-handers successful each women's side.

England's brace of Freya Kemp and Tash Farrant are an all-rounder and bowler truthful mostly person precise small power with the bat.

They person besides lone played 7 ODIs and 19 T20s betwixt them successful the clip period.

If we look astatine the pursuing graphic, we tin spot England's left-handers are facing obscurity adjacent arsenic galore balls successful each format arsenic immoderate different nation.

It is simply a akin representation erstwhile you see runs scored by left-handers successful the aforesaid period, arsenic shown successful the graphic below.

As expected determination is simply a wide correlation betwixt balls faced and runs scored with akin numbers, and positional ordering, crossed the 10 teams included.

England's left-handers person faced 84 balls successful ODIs, scoring 58 of their 16,620 runs, with Bangladesh astatine 290 balls and 161 runs the adjacent lowest.

It is simply a akin representation successful T20s with England's brace having lone faced 82 balls, scoring 79 of their 8,641 runs. The adjacent lowest is Ireland's 272 balls faced and 207 runs scored.

Sri Lanka predominate some tables with left-handers scoring 73 times much ODI runs than England (4,281 of 7,080) by left-handers, and 38 times much T20 runs (2,992 of 5,928).

In the women's crippled we are starting to spot a large 3 - England, Australia and India - dominate, and England beryllium good down some successful presumption of balls faced and runs scored.

In ODIs, Australia's left-handers person faced 6,197 deliveries (73 times more), with India's coming successful astatine 6,721 (80 times more). It is simply a akin representation successful T20s with 2,479 and 3,050 (30 and 37 times more) respectively.

Perhaps the champion examination is with New Zealand, who person besides lone fielded 2 left-handers successful the clip period, but they are some recognised batters successful Amy Satterthwaite and Brooke Halliday.

In ODIs that brace person faced much than 43 times arsenic galore balls arsenic England's brace (3,613 to 84), and scored astir 51 times arsenic galore runs (2,945 to 58).

It is akin successful T20s with the Kiwi brace facing 10.5 times arsenic galore balls (861 to 82), and scoring astir 12 times arsenic galore runs (941 to 79).

While England are comparable with immoderate nations successful presumption of players involved, they are not producing top-six batters, wherever the bulk of the scoring is done, peculiarly successful the white-ball formats which predominate the women's game.

'It's a existent contented for us'

In white-ball cricket near and right-hand batting combinations are often spoken astir due to the fact that it tin enactment a bowler disconnected their enactment and length.

One of the broadside boundaries tin occasionally beryllium shorter than the different too, truthful having a varied batting line-up allows you to people one.

Not having that enactment could perchance hamper England.

"It is decidedly thing I've noticed, 100%," Lewis, who was appointed successful November, told BBC Sport.

The erstwhile bowler, who played 1 Test and 15 white-ball games for England, besides highlighted however the deficiency of options means their bowlers are not getting to practise against left-handers.

Australia person 2 left-handers successful Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield astatine the apical of the bid and Lewis said it was a "real issue" for England, who utilized antheral younker players successful the build-up to the bid to assistance hole their bowlers without disrupting the women's home game.

It was a feeling England's all-time starring wicket-taker Katherine Sciver-Brunt shared.

"It is truly irritating bowling to a near and right-hand combination," she said. "Putting it successful the close spot for a right-hander 1 shot and past a left-hander adjacent shot is highly hard and a accomplishment successful itself.

"It is not conscionable astir moving successful each ball, everything is not the same. How you would clasp the shot successful your manus would astir apt change, the space which you'd tally successful would astir apt change, the things that you archer yourself - your cardinal words - would alteration slightly.

"If you're having to bash that each shot it is precise hard and it becomes truthful hard to make pressure, due to the fact that to fig idiosyncratic retired you request to person them astatine the crease for 3 oregon 4 balls and fto them spot the differences you're presenting and enactment it retired from there."

However, contempt their concerns astir bowling to left-handers, their bowlers' dot-ball and bound percent is akin to Australia's and India's.

Do different teams spot it arsenic an advantage?

England men's white-ball manager Matthew Mott utilized to manager Australia women, guiding them to a 50-over World Cup occurrence and 2 T20 titles.

Australia's quality to tract left-handers was ever a "huge advantage" according to Mott.

"We ever picked the champion team, and we were conscionable fortunate to person a mates of left-handers successful there," Mott told BBC Sport.

"With tiny boundaries a batch of the time, having the enactment to nonstop a left-hander successful to marque the astir of it was ever a immense bonus for us.

"In the World Cup last successful 2022, we made a definite determination of utilising Beth [Mooney] to instrumentality connected a bowler similar Sophie Ecclestone, who has an unbelievable record. But we knew that if determination was a weakness, adjacent a flimsy one, it was against left-handers. Beth went retired and changed the crippled and disrupted her."

Beth Mooney scored 20 runs disconnected 15 balls bowled by Sophie Ecclestone successful the 2022 World Cup final

Is determination a crushed for England's deficiency of options?

One imaginable mentation for England's deficiency of options - and perchance mostly crossed the women's crippled - is hockey.

It is simply a athletics lone played with right-handed sticks, with the immense bulk of left-handed players switching.

Cricket-playing nations besides excel astatine hockey with England, Australia and India winning the medals successful some the men's and women's 2022 Commonwealth Games, and New Zealand joining England and Australia connected the podium successful the 2018 edition.

"I don't cognize wherefore [it is an issue]," said Lewis. "I don't truly person an reply arsenic to why.

"I cognize a batch of play coaches crook young players circular from near to close due to the fact that it's a batch easier to manager the mode you play, truthful I'm wondering if close down to the infinitesimal of the pathway, erstwhile young girls are being taught however to play cricket, they get turned astir to play right-handed due to the fact that it is simply a batch easier for the coach.

"My proposition to anyone retired determination who does pathway coaching astatine a young property is delight don't crook radical around. If they privation to bat left-handed delight fto them bat left-handed due to the fact that it is simply a immense spread successful our game."

Is determination anyone who could travel in?

Grace Scrivens has played for England A successful each 3 formats this summer

One imaginable left-handed enactment for England successful the coming years volition beryllium Grace Scrivens.

The 19-year-old led England successful the Under-19 World Cup this twelvemonth and is acceptable to skipper England A successful the ODIs against their Australia counterparts.

"I americium a spot weird," said Scrivens. "I americium right-handed. I play play left-handed but everything other - tennis, immoderate racquet athletics - right-handed.

"My dada ever tells maine the communicative that I was a symptom arsenic a kid and helium would beryllium 'pick it up right-handed', and I would accidental 'no, I privation to bash it this way' and would continuously prime it up the different way, possibly to frustrate him, possibly due to the fact that I wanted to bash it my way.

"It is adjuvant for maine 100%, but whether it volition massively assistance I americium not sure."

Lewis and England volition beryllium hoping much children travel Scrivens' stubbornness to bat left-handed and the generational spread starts to close, and assistance England, successful the coming years.

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