England name Smith and Heath in T20 World Cup squad

Linsey Smith and Bess Heath were both part of the Northern Superchargers squad in this year's Hundred

England have named spinner Linsey Smith and wicketkeeper-batter Bess Heath in their squad for October's T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

Left-armer Smith, 29, was recalled by England after a five-year absence earlier this year, while 23-year-old Heath played the last of her four T20 internationals in March.

The group contains four frontline spinners, but only one specialist pace bowler in Lauren Bell, with other seam options coming from Nat Sciver-Brunt, Freya Kemp and Danielle Gibson.

In a sign of England’s consistency of selection, the squad is almost identical to the one that beat New Zealand 5-0 in July.

Only Lauren Filer misses out and the pace bowler will travel for the training camp in Abu Dhabi.

"We feel that the squad we have selected has a really nice balance for the conditions where we will play," said head coach Jon Lewis.

England have been grouped with Bangladesh, South Africa, West Indies and Scotland for the tournament in Sharjah and Dubai.

Heather Knight’s team begin their campaign against Bangladesh on 5 October in Sharjah.

The competition was moved to UAE from Bangladesh because of civil unrest in the country.

————————————————————

England squad for Women's T20 World Cup: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt

————————————————————

On the change of venue, which was only announced last week, Lewis said: "We had to understand the conditions where we will play most of our cricket.

"The two stadiums in Sharjah and Dubai are a little bit different, so we have to be equipped for both."

As expected, there is no place in the World Cup squad for opener Tammy Beaumont and pace bowler Kate Cross, but both are included in almost entirely separate squads for the tour of Ireland in September.

Cross will captain that team, which includes only Heath and all-rounder Kemp from the World Cup squad, and even then for only the one-day international leg of the tour.

Spinners Hannah Baker, Georgia Davis and Charis Pavely, seamer Ryana MacDonald-Gay, batter Paige Scholfield, all-rounder Georgia Adams and wicketkeeper Seren Smale are all in line to win their first England caps.

England play three T20s in Belfast from 7 September, followed by two ODIs in Dublin.

————————————————————

England ODI squad for Ireland: Kate Cross (captain), Hollie Armitage, Hannah Baker, Tammy Beaumont, Georgia Davis, Lauren Filer, Bess Heath, Freya Kemp, Emma Lamb, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Paige Scholfield, Bryony Smith, Mady Villiers, Issy Wong.

England T20 squad for Ireland: Kate Cross (captain), Georgia Adams, Hollie Armitage, Hannah Baker, Tammy Beaumont, Mahika Gaur, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Charis Pavely, Paige Scholfield, Seren Smale, Bryony Smith, Mady Villiers, Issy Wong.

England's schedule at Women's T20 World Cup

October

5 Bangladesh v England (11:00 BST)

7 England v South Africa (15:00 BST)

13 England v Scotland (11:00 BST)

15 England v West Indies (15:00 BST)