Cliff Notes – Charlie Dean takes England vice-captaincy in her stride
- Charlie Dean has been appointed as England’s vice-captain for the Women’s World Cup 2025, aiming to maintain her “sarcastic and jovial” personality while supporting captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.
- Dean’s role includes being a “sounding board” for Sciver-Brunt and assisting with field placements, drawing on her leadership experience from captaining London Spirit in the women’s Hundred.
- The England team is undergoing a leadership transition under coach Charlotte Edwards, focusing on a structured leadership group to enhance performance and attention to detail in ODI cricket.
Charlie Dean takes England vice-captaincy in her stride
Charlie Dean hopes to be her own “sarcastic and jovial” self after her ascendancy as England’s vice-captain at the Women’s World Cup 2025. England head coach, Charlotte Edwards, announced her as Nat Sciver-Brunt’s deputy during their camp in Abu Dhabi.
“Having had a bit more captaincy experience this summer and I think [England are] trying to create a leadership group that is a bit more official and structured to really help complement Nat going into this World Cup,” Dean said in Guwahati ahead of England’s game against Bangladesh.
“Obviously we don’t want Nat off the pitch, but if that were to happen then I guess I’m ready to step up, with a bit of help from Tammy [Beaumont] and Jonesie [Amy Jones] and Dunks [Sophia Dunkley] as well, who are all exceptional leaders in their own right. But we’ve got a lot of characters and leaders in this team. Heather [Knight] has been brilliant. She’s come back from injury, I guess tapping into her knowledge when we can and really learning as a group.”
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Dean made her international debut only in 2021 but captained London Spirit in the women’s Hundred earlier this year and was discussed as a potential successor to Knight. She is often seen discussing her bowling grip, areas to bowl and the shots batters could deploy against her after almost every delivery at the nets, bringing her thinking to the fore. Even during England’s home summer, she was often seen adjusting the angles of the fielders. Dean said her role as Sciver-Brunt’s deputy is mainly “being a bit of a sounding board”.
“She’s got a brilliant cricket brain and she leads from the front with how she acts,” Dean said. “I guess for me it is about being there to complement and look after bits she hopefully shouldn’t need to, [like] getting the fielders in the right place and bits like that. [It is] trying to make sure that she has everything she needs to be really clear and be the best version of herself for us… just being there as an option more than anything.
“I’m probably someone who’s not going to come forward with 10 million different ideas, but I guess [my role is] thinking about the game and having a bit of a cricket brain and trying to shout out when I feel like I see something that could really help.”
England had a change of leadership after the Women’s Ashes at the start of the year. Edwards replaced Jon Lewis while Sciver-Brunt took over after Knight’s nine-year-helm. Their first series under new leadership was at home against West Indies, winning 6-0 across formats, before defeat to India again at home.
“Having Nat and Lottie [Edwards] feels like a bit of a fresh start for us all,” Dean said. “The players in the team might not have changed. But the things that we’re looking to do and being really specific about how we go about our ODI cricket, that attention to detail [have changed] and we want to show our grit and determination. That comes from Nat in the way in which she goes about her cricket.
“You watch her bat and she’s someone that really puts her hand up and has those big innings for the team. Just from the way she behaves that filters down. Lottie’s the coach who reads the game really well, and it seems really simple when she talks it through. We all know that cricket can be quite complicated. So, I guess breaking things down, keeping it really simple, and going into specifics has really helped us.”.
Dean first grabbed headlines in India for being run-out backing up by Deepti Sharma in the Lord’s ODI in 2022. But since then she has grown leaps and bounds. She also played the WPL earlier this year for the Smriti Mandhana-led RCB. Never one to shy away from having a laugh, Dean hopes to not change with this additional responsibility.
“As a person, I don’t really change, no matter what role I have,” she said. “I’m a bit sarcastic and jovial, but I really think about the game beyond that.”
Marufa dealing with ‘hype’ as Bangladesh eye statementMarufa Akter struck twice in the first over ICC/Getty Images
Bangladesh will aim to use Tuesday’s match against England as a means to “show our capabilities”, according to Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana. The encounter will be only the second time the teams have met in women’s ODIs.
“This is the stage where we show our capabilities so that teams like England and Australia show interest in playing against us,” Nigar said.
They are also hopeful that 20-year-old fast bowler Marufa Akter can continue her eye-catching start to the tournament.
“We’ve had some good pacers before, but the kind of exposure Marufa has received, nobody else has had that,” Nigar said. “It’s very important for her to stay focused on the World Cup right now. Whatever is happening around her shouldn’t affect her performance. She should concentrate on herself – how to prepare for the upcoming games and how best she can perform for the team.”
Marufa began the World Cup with a double-wicket blow in her opening over that softened up Pakistan in Colombo. She got the ball to hoop around at good pace, Omaima Sohail and Sidra Amin undone by the inswing.
“She’s very young, and that’s why we always try to keep her game plan simple. We never put her under pressure,” Nigar said. “Whether she succeeds or faces setbacks, we never burden her. We always try to keep her mindset calm. We picked her at a very young age, and everyone knows she’ll face struggles; that’s natural. From that perspective, she’s extremely hardworking, and her hard work is starting to show results gradually.
“Being such a young player, nurturing her properly is very important. There was a lot of hype after the first match, and even during the T20 World Cup before that, but what I’ve seen over time is that she doesn’t let it get to her. She enjoys the game, embraces that youthful energy within her, and the entire team fully backs her.”
