Skip to content

Charlotte Edwards: England Women's head coach says players must be accountable for fitness as she outlines expectations

England Women's new head coach Charlotte Edwards has said she doesn't want fitness to be a talking point going forward; the 45-year-old said she has a shortlist in mind for a new captain and expects the role to be filled in the next two weeks

Thursday 3 April 2025 15:43, UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Newly-appointed England's Women's head coach Charlotte Edwards says she's aiming to 'find the blueprint' to help the team win major events

England Women's new head coach Charlotte Edwards has said players must be accountable for their fitness as she outlines her expectations in the role.

The former England captain replaces Jon Lewis, who was sacked in the wake of the 16-0 Ashes thrashing in Australia over the winter as the tourists lost all seven games on a chastening tour.

During the tour, spinner Sophie Ecclestone refused to be interviewed by former team-mate and now media pundit Alex Hartley after the latter questioned England's fitness in the wake of the T20 World Cup exit months earlier, a decision that was heavily criticised by the public and media.

Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies Allow Cookies Once

"In terms of fitness, I'm going up to Loughborough next week and the team will be in a fitness session so I'll judge them on that next week," Edwards said.

"What I do want is more accountability from players around fitness. I don't want that to be a talking point moving forward. That's really important to me.

"In terms of our professional standards, anyone who knows me, I set pretty high standards, so that's something I'll be instilling within this group.

"It's a fresh start for us all. And I really can't wait for the prospect of getting started."

Also See:

ECB on Edwards being appointed without open recruitment process

ECB chief executive Richard Gould:

"I can recognise the concerns. This is an irregular occurrence in the way we go about our work.

"Lottie is by far and away the standout person for this particular job and she is also in great demand around the world.

"Therefore we wanted to make sure we could deliver her and remove the uncertainty that sometimes a selection process may bring on.

"I accept it is irregular in the way we go about our business, but it was the outcome we wanted to deliver in this particular instance."

Edwards' arrival as coach draws similar parallels with the end of her own international playing career.

In May 2016, then England Women's coach Mark Robinson made the decision to replace Edwards as captain to focus on a "fresh vision" after a perceived lack of fitness in that team and the need "toughen up a bit".

Edwards, a veteran of 309 international appearances across 20 years, led England to the 2009 50-over World Cup and T20 World Cup titles, while she also won three Ashes series outright in a 10-year spell as captain between 2006 and 2016.

Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.
Enable Cookies Allow Cookies Once

The 45-year-old will be hoping to revitalise England after their damning Ashes tour but the first thing on her agenda will be finding a new captain.

Heather Knight, who succeeded Edwards as skipper in 2016 and went on to win the 50-over World Cup on home soil a year later, was removed from the job following the Ashes hammering.

"We've got a few meetings over the next few days, so I'm hoping that's going to take two weeks at the most," Edwards added.

"I've got some of my own thoughts, which I'm not going to share, but we do have a shortlist."

Edwards confident England can win major events

Charlotte Edwards captained England to World Cup glory in the 2009 at Lord's
Image: Charlotte Edwards captained England to World Cup glory in the 2009 at Lord's

Reflecting on England's 16-0 Ashes defeat, Edwards hopes the players have learnt from their mistakes as she hopes to draw a line underneath it.

England's first challenge will come next when they face the West Indies in three T20s and three ODIs starting on May 21, live on Sky Sports.

"It was tough to take and hopefully it will make the players more resilient from an experience like that," Edwards said.

"The players will have learnt a lot from it, and we can see that as a real positive for English cricket.

"We've got to pull on the positives and look forward now."

Charlotte Edwards, Southern Brave Women, The Hundred (Getty Images)
Image: Charlotte Edwards coached Southern Brave Women to The Hundred title in 2023

England will then come up against India in a white-ball series in June before the start of the 50-over World Cup in autumn in India.

Speaking on whether England can win the World Cup, Edwards said: "Yes, I do, I wouldn't have taken this role if I didn't think we could win major events.

"We've got some of the best players in the world who are proven performers. We've got some wonderful young talent.

"Now, it's my job and the coaching staff's job to nurture that and hopefully find a blueprint, especially in 50-over cricket, that's going to make us successful over a long period of time and make us a bit more consistent.

"That's hugely exciting for us as a group and six months is going to go very quickly, but we've got enough games, I think, in that time to prepare the team."

England Women's summer fixtures

All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports

T20 international series vs West Indies (May)

  • First T20: Wednesday May 21 (6.30pm) - Canterbury
  • Second T20: Friday May 23 (6.35pm) - Hove
  • Third T20: Monday May 26 (2.30pm) - Chelmsford

One-day international series vs West Indies (May-June)

  • First ODI: Friday May 30 (1pm) - Derby
  • Second ODI: Wednesday June 4 (1pm) - Leicester
  • Third ODI: Saturday June 7 (11am) - Taunton

T20 international series vs India (June-July)

  • First T20: Saturday June 28 (2.30pm) - Trent Bridge
  • Second T20: Tuesday July 1 (6.30pm) - Bristol
  • Third T20: Friday July 4 (6.35pm) - The Kia Oval
  • Fourth T20: Wednesday July 9 (6.30pm) - Emirates Old Trafford
  • Fifth T20: Saturday July 12 (6.35pm) - Edgbaston

One-day international series vs India (July)

  • First ODI: Wednesday July 16 (1pm) - Southampton
  • Second ODI: Saturday July 19 (11am) - Lord's
  • Third ODI: Tuesday July 22 (1pm) - Chester-le-Street

Around Sky

Upgrade to Sky Sports to watch over 200 live festive football matches and all the darts

Not got Sky? Get instant access to Sky Sports with no contract