Charlotte Edwards has been appointed England head coach following the sacking of Jon Lewis after the 16-0 Women’s Ashes whitewash in Australia.
A lengthy England and Wales Cricket Board review was mandated in the aftermath of the chastening defeat by Australia, with the decision made to replace both the captain, Heather Knight, and head coach.
Edwards was the obvious choice to replace Lewis, and has coached in franchise leagues across the world including the Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League, Southern Brave in the Hundred and Sydney Sixers in the WBBL.
She has enjoyed success across the world. In 2023, for example, she coached Mumbai Indians to the inaugural WPL title in India, Southern Brave to their first Hundred title, and Southern Vipers to the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy as well as the Twenty20 competition named in her honour.
Edwards has also convinced players to join her clubs primarily down to her prestige – dubbed the “Lottie effect”.
Edwards made 309 appearances for England across all formats in a playing career spanning more than 20 years, was sacked as captain at the age of 36 in 2016 and retired from cricket two years later.
As a player, Edwards led England to three Ashes series wins, a 50-over World Cup and a T20 World Cup, at a time when the nation was heralded as the standard-bearers in the sport (Australia have since taken up that mantle).
England next play in a T20 series against West Indies in May.
One of Edwards’s first challenges in the role will be to appoint a new captain as Knight was sacked last month after almost nine years in the role.
The obvious successor appears to be all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, who has been longstanding vice-captain under Knight and is arguably England’s best player. However, she has just started her maternity leave after her wife, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, gave birth to their first child.
Edwards will also have to contend with being in the same dressing room as some of those she used to play with during her time as captain, notably Knight, Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Kate Cross and Tammy Beaumont.
