England 'on a journey' - Edwards refuses to panic

England are a team in transition and there is no need for panic after their T20 series loss against India, said head coach Charlotte Edwards.

Fresh from a disastrous winter which saw an early T20 World Cup exit and an Ashes hammering, England began their new era under Edwards and captain Nat Sciver-Brunt with white-ball series sweeps over the West Indies.

However, they have largely been outplayed in the subsequent T20s against India and the tourists claimed a convincing six-wicket win at Old Trafford to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, which is followed by three one-day internationals.

"As long as we are looking to get better, I am not going to panic," Edwards told Sky Sports.

"We are going to be calm. We are a team on a journey. We are a team in transition. It's not going to happen overnight.

"We are not going to suddenly get this team performing how we want them to. But hopefully we have got a bit of time, certainly in T20 cricket.

"Hopefully you will see an improved team in ODI cricket, that's our immediate goal come October."

The autumn sees England head to India and Sri Lanka for the 50-over World Cup, putting the one-dayers that follow Saturday's fifth T20 under a greater spotlight.

"What this [T20] series has enabled us to see is the team under pressure," said Edwards.

"The last game at The Oval was a great example of that. We dropped a couple of catches but we took a brilliant one that was probably game-changing by Charlie Dean.

"We have got to keep working on that area. India have improved massively because they have played in the WPL (Women's Premier League), where they are playing in front of 30,000 people regularly. I can see the influence of that on this Indian team.

"We have got to try and create that through The Hundred and competitions across the world and hopefully in the series we get to play."

'This is going to take longer than we'd like'

England's fielding was an area earmarked for improvement when Edwards was hired followed the 16-0 Ashes debacle in Australia over the winter.

"Really disappointing" was the former captain's assessment of that aspect of her side's performances after a number of dropped catches across the India series.

"I know the results haven't gone our way but I keep saying to the players that we're on a journey, and the T20 journey is for [the T20 World Cup] next summer," Edwards told BBC Test Match Special.

"We are learning lots about this current group, but they've got to learn quickly, about how to build an innings in the middle overs and that sort of thing.

"In terms of our bowling, it is exciting. [Lauren] Bell, [Lauren] Filer, [Issy] Wong, [Sophie] Ecclestone's shown her class.

"We want the team to be playing under more pressure, we have seen that now, and I'm learning a lot from that."

If the West Indies series was a timely confidence boost following the Ashes, India have provided a reality check as England try to plot a path to becoming the best side in the world.

"This is one of the best teams in the world and where we want to aspire to get to," Edwards said of India.

"At times at The Oval it was amazing how we fought back but we haven't been able to do it consistently enough where India have and that is why they're 3-1 up.

"I'm learning every single day, we're talking and reviewing a lot. I think this is just going to take a bit longer than we'd have liked.

"We have come up against a very good team but what I can tell you is that everything is being done behind the scenes for us to improve, for us to get there, and we've got to be realistic."