Dean: England can create another defining World Cup moment

Charlie Dean was in the stands, watching as a 16-year-old fan, the last time a Women's World Cup final was played in England. The contest played in front of a packed audience at Lord's in 2017, ended up becoming a thriller with England eventually lifting the trophy. The hosts won the trophy, just like they had won every time a Women's World Cup has been played at home, and the euphoria followed in the newspapers for weeks.

Women's cricket took a different turn thereafter - in England, in India, and globally. Not surprisingly, when the 2026 edition of the T20 World Cup was to be played in England, there were reasons for the team to be excited about it.

Three players from that squad - Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge are still around, and have played a key role in England's march to the final of the ongoing World Cup. "We chatted a bit about it (the 2017 World Cup) when we got together as a squad and how much of an impact that World Cup final had on us.

"But it's amazing that the ones with longevity are still churning out runs as they are, all three. But also the way that they go about their cricket, their calm nature, and feel like all three of those girls - Danni, Nat and Heather - are people who will stand up in the final. So trying to learn from them and yeah, I guess embrace the situation that we're going to be in," Dean said.

England are on the hunt for their first World Cup trophy since that 2017 triumph, almost in a way getting sidelined as the second biggest force in world cricket since then. Nearly a year ago, they couldn't buy a win against the Australians. The captain was sacked, the coach was ousted, and the new leadership group took a while to find its footing. Over the past few months, the results of that change have started to become evident.

It's shown up at a personal level for Dean as well, who not only led the side in Sciver-Brunt's absence, but has also improved as a fielder over the past year. She credits the work put in by Nick Walton, the fielding coach.

"Our fielding coach comes with a lot of passion for the work that we do, and he's been brilliant. There was one session which Nick, I think he calls it his disco fielding. It's obviously under lights, and I think he borrows his wife's glittery, sparkly jacket, and we do a piece of fielding to each song that he has on, and pumps it, and pumps the music up, and tries to get us all real hyped up.

"I love the way he goes about getting us really passionate about fielding and doing different things so that it's fun every time, and I think we're getting into that space where we want to really show off with our fielding, obviously... there's that air of confidence about us now, which has really grown over the last year."

But speaking of the overall development of the team in the field, she also points out a critical aspect - agency.

"Progress happens with dedication over time, and putting the work in. All our careers as professional cricketers, we put in the work, but especially the last year, trying to be really specific with how we go about our fielding and doing things under pressure, maybe some funky sessions to try and emulate a bit of chaos that happens within games when you're under pressure.

"There has also been a lot of agency. The girls who know where they're going to be fielding do a lot of specific work on that, whether you're a short 45 or you're at long on. You do the work to try and replicate what you're going to get in the games, and being that extra little bit more detailed with what we're trying to do and how we go about that has put us into great stead."

With that air of confidence, England have marched to the final of the ongoing World Cup unbeaten - and almost unscathed. Now, they are set to meet long-time nemesis and the other unbeaten team of the tournament, Australia.

"At the beginning of the year, the tournament we set out to try and be in a home World Cup final. We know how impactful that 2017 World Cup was, and to be able to get through to the final and get through the group stages and win under pressure here today. It's huge for us."

Australia is not only the best team in the world, but also one that has given England some rough times in the recent past. But Dean believes they can start with a fresh slate.

"We've not played them in a year or so, or six months, so feels like a fresh start for us. We know how brilliant they are as a side. They've dominated the games that they've played in too, so they're a very skilful team, and we know that we need to produce our best cricket to beat them.

"On a final day, it's whoever rocks up and plays the best cricket. It doesn't matter what's happened before that. We feel like we're in a really great place as a team, but we also know the force that Australia cricket are, so I guess it's balancing those two elements of feeling a sense of confidence, but trying to prepare really well.

Dean has seen the change that happened in English cricket following their win in the 2017 World Cup, and is hopeful this batch can do an encore.

"It was progressive for women's cricket afterwards (the 2017 World Cup win), investment into domestic tournaments and everything. It was a huge moment, I guess quite a few years ago now, but hopefully we can emulate the same thing."