England’s Smith takes five after Jones and Beaumont tons in ODI canter past West Indies

In Charlotte Edwards’s first press conference as England head coach, she was pretty clear about her priorities: “I think we’ve got to look at our ODI game. I think that’s probably an area that we’ve underperformed in for a while.” Perhaps nobody epitomised that more than Amy Jones, who in 12 years of international cricket – including 97 ODIs – had never scored a century.

On Friday at Derby, with Edwards grinning away on the dressing room balcony, Jones punched through the off side for the boundary which finally broke that duck. They say the years are short, while the days are long: the five overs which Jones spent in the nervous 90s felt almost as long as the 12 years which preceded them.

First, the umpires called for drinks; then Jones offered up two nervy return catches to Jahzara Claxton and Karishma Ramharack, which were both shelled; and finally her opening partner Tammy Beaumont got impatient and decided to beat Jones to the milestone, having played second fiddle for almost the whole of their record-breaking 222-run partnership. When the vital boundary from Jones finally came, the celebrations were partly just relief to have got a very big monkey off a very senior back.

In the light of Thursday’s news that Heather Knight is out for the rest of the summer with the hamstring injury she sustained at Chelmsford, this was a good time for the rest of England’s batters to stand up and be counted: Jones’ and Beaumont’s centuries, combined with a second 50 in three matches from the captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, provided the platform for England’s formidable total of 345 for six.

In reply, a chaotic innings from Qiana Joseph set the tone: the left-hander scored 62 from 74 balls simply by swinging and hoping. But Alice Capsey eventually arrowed one into Joseph’s stumps and with Hayley Matthews already long-departed – a decent maiden ODI wicket for Em Arlott – the stage was set for England’s second debutant, Linsey Smith, to bamboozle West Indies’ middle order.

View image in fullscreen Amy Jones with her player of the match award after England beat West Indies. Photograph: Nathan Stirk/ECB/Getty Images

“I wasn’t getting too much bounce today, which worked nicely for me,” Smith said. “I just try and target the stumps as much as possible and wait for them to make mistakes.”

The left-arm spinner – who made her 20-over debut in 2018 – said that she had never given up hope on the “dream” of playing ODI cricket, despite the seven-year wait. “Being out in the Ashes and only being in the T20 squad, just made me reflect and want to really put my hand up and put up a fight and try and change the story of what 50-over cricket’s like for England,” she said.

Fittingly, it was Sophia Dunkley, who before play had presented Smith with her cap, who pouched two good catches in the deep – the second off the final ball of Smith’s 10-over allocation – to ensure her teammate (just) achieved her five-fer. From there it was slow death for West Indies, who clung on until the 49th over but were eventually all out for 237.

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In her first two months as head coach, Edwards has kept a close eye on county cricket, which may explain England’s new-look opening partnership: Beaumont and Jones have already scored 237 runs together for The Blaze in seven One-Day Cup matches this season. While the pair started sedately at Derby, there was a dramatic acceleration in the 26th over: Beaumont came down the track to Matthews, fired the first six of the day over long-on and proceeded to add another 50 runs in just 22 balls.

The highlight was a 25-run over against Jahzara Claxton, during which the diminutive Beaumont leapt into the air as if she had launched herself off a trampoline and somehow upper-cut a ball a metre above her head to the boundary.

Spare a thought for Emma Lamb, who after a two-year absence from internationals was adjudged caught behind to Matthews after just three balls. She will be hoping for a chance at vindication when the two sides go again, at Leicester on Wednesday.

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