Charlotte Edwards has England ‘focused on winning' again
England bowler Lauren Bell feels new head coach Charlotte Edwards has helped the players rediscover their winning mentality as they look to move forward into the summer series against India.
Former England captain Edwards replaced Jon Lewis as head coach after the winter's humiliating 16-0 whitewash in the Women's Ashes in Australia.
It has been a positive start as new captain Nat Sciver-Brunt guided her side to a clean sweep of their six-match white-ball series against the West Indies.
England play the first of five T20s against India at Trent Bridge on Saturday, which will be followed by three ODIs in July.
With a 50-over World Cup on the horizon in India later in the year, Bell believes Edwards, her former coach at Hampshire, can keep pushing England in the right direction.
'She is exactly how I expected her to be coming in and leading this team. She has really brought some great fundamentals to the team,' Bell said.
'I guess Charlotte just brings a sense of the winning mentality.
'The way Jon Lewis went about his things, I really enjoyed and it was a really good way to go about it, but Charlotte is just different.
'She has more of a focus on winning and how you are going to beat the opposition, which obviously is something maybe we lacked in previous series and under the pressure, I guess.
'So she has brought that and a real hard-working mentality.'
Bell added: 'In any situation, when you have new personnel in charge, it is going to be different. Whether their ideas are wildly different (or not), it is going to feel like a different group.
'They obviously bring a new energy, new ideas. It is kind of like a blank slate and we are moving forward now.
'She is very focused on winning, focused on how we are going to beat the opposition by getting the best out of us, so it is different but it is great and really exciting.'
Sciver-Brunt hit another half-century in Taunton to help secure England's 3-0 ODI series win over the West Indies.
Bell feels the 32-year-old all-rounder, who replaced Heather Knight in April after her nine years as skipper, has been 'amazing' in her new role.
'She has been really relaxed, really calm and wants everyone to have her say on how they go about their games and what they want to do, which is great,' Bell said.
'She always leads from the front. She is amazing at all three aspects of the game and everything she does – the way she trains, the type of professional she is.
'It has been a really good start and I think she is really enjoying it.'
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The series is India's first tour in England since the controversial run-out at the non-striker's end – more informally known as the 'Mankad' – by Deepti Sharma on Charlie Dean in 2022.
While plenty of water has flowed under the bridge since, Bell knows England – with Sophie Ecclestone returning to international duty – will still need to be on top of their own game.
'They are obviously a really strong team, but hopefully we are really confident and in a good place,' she said.
'So if we can play our best cricket, then I think it will be really good series.'
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