England batter Lauren Winfield-Hill has rediscovered her love for the game after being able to take the pressure off herself; she is aiming to be back in the team for this summer's Ashes series; watch the men's and women's Ashes live on Sky Sports from June 16
Wednesday 17 May 2023 16:48, UK
Lauren Winfield-Hill has opened up on how she rediscovered her love of cricket as she aims to be part of England's Ashes summer.
The 32-year-old batter has not featured for England since being dropped midway through last year's Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand but has excelled both in domestic cricket and Australia's Women's Big Bash League following that tournament.
Winfield-Hill has been open about the mental health struggles she has been through in recent years, but has found putting less pressure on herself has helped her find that enjoyment again after a difficult part of her career.
"A bit more would be a massive understatement - I'm loving my cricket," Winfield-Hill told Sky Sports News.
"I've taken the pressure off myself; it's not going to last forever, and I think I carried so much weight and put so much pressure on myself for so long.
"I've just tried to strip it back, keep it simple and enjoy each game as it comes and try my best for the team I'm representing. It's the hardest thing to do to keep it that simple, but it is just a case of trying to strip it back.
"It obviously helps when you've got life going on as well and you're not stuck in a hotel room getting Deliveroo every night. That helps, being on the golf course, going for a coffee with mates and feeling like there is more to it than being a cricketer."
Winfield-Hill has compiled 220 runs at an average of 44 in five innings for the Northern Diamonds in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy so far this year, coming on the back of a winter in which she scored 254 runs for the Melbourne Stars in the WBBL.
The right-hander admitted having to play in bio-secure bubbles during the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll on her, yet is in no doubt talking about the challenges she has faced has helped her overcome them.
"A lot of players and sports people have challenges at different times," Winfield-Hill said.
"I really struggled in that Covid period, but I'm really grateful I went through that because I've had awesome support and I'm in a better place than I have been in terms of being in love with the game, enjoying it, playing well and having fun with my mates, essentially.
"Talking about it helps. It makes you authentic, it makes you real, and I think that can be really powerful."
England head into this summer's Ashes series against Australia, which starts a week after the men's series with the one-off Test on June 22 followed by three T20 internationals and three one-day internationals, aiming to reclaim the trophy from their old rivals.
Winfield-Hill is eager to be competing against the Australians again and is excited by the potential of the younger members of the squad who have emerged in the past year too - something she believes can give the hosts an advantage.
"Our squad is very young and very exciting, and there are a lot of players who don't have battle scars, which is a huge strength," Winfield-Hill said.
"You're going in and giving it a red-hot go with that almost naive youth, which will be awesome for us. What it does do for us is if you've had a good day or a bad day, you can park it and just move on, and the other thing to switch on is the power of home crowds.
"There has been a lot of chatter around the men's Ashes series and I hope that flows into the women's where there is real hype and the fans are really behind us."
Watch every match from the men's and women's Ashes live on Sky Sports. You can also follow videos and over-by-over text commentary across Sky Sports' digital platforms. Live coverage of the first men's Test is live from June 16-20 on Sky Sports Cricket.
