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Just a few months prior, Sophia Dunkley was poised to
spearhead an English reorganisation of a hierarchy that, in their opinion, had
been dominated by Australia for an excessive amount of time. In a drawn series
that saw Australia win the Ashes again, if not quite comfortably, they came
close.
But Dunkley’s position in that effort was not as
significant as anticipated, and that had consequences. Only now, having taken a
break over the latter part of the home international summer and finding some
late success in the WBBL, is Dunkley back, feeling confident about her game and
ready to don the England shirt once more.
“On the whole, I’m quite disappointed with how I
performed over the summer,” Dunkley told ESPNcricinfo ahead of England’s
T20I and Test tour of India. “The Ashes was an amazing series, pretty
intense, and every game came down to the wire but I was definitely disappointed
with how I performed. I wanted to contribute to the team and help a team
effort, and it felt like it wasn’t quite there for me.”
In the first Twenty20 International, Dunkley struck a
half-century in a losing cause, following scores of 9 and 16 in the Test, which
Australia won. She subsequently played a significant role in both of England’s
subsequent victories, but Danni Wyatt, her opening partner, took centre stage.
For the ODIs, Dunkley opened with Tammy Beaumont, but he only scored 8, 13, and
2, and England won that leg 2-1 as well. Dunkley had new hurdles in the shape
of increased scrutiny following a home Ashes series that attracted
unprecedented public attention. She also took a break, missing the first two
matches of the Women’s Hundred and both white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
“Missing the Sri Lanka series was a discussion
that I had with the coaching staff and especially with the head coach and it
was about resting really,” Dunkley said.
“It was a good time to have a rest and step away
and do things that are important to me, see my friends and family. We’ve got an
absolutely massive year in international cricket coming up. So I was very
grateful that I’ve got a brilliant team of coaches who really support me and
gave me that time, and I’m going into the India series feeling pretty refreshed
and excited. I feel I’ve got a new lease of life after having that time away,
which is great.”