Lauren Bell, 5 for 37, on England's 3-0 ODI series win against New Zealand

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Lauren Bell, 5 for 37, on England's 3-0 ODI series win against New Zealand  03/07/2024  Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol, England

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00:00Congratulations Lauren, how does it feel to have your first International Firefighter?

00:13Yeah it's pretty cool I think, obviously it's been I guess a tricky few months so yeah it was

00:20nice to come out today with some real success but yeah it was a great day.

00:25Can you talk us through what's been tough, what you've been sort of dealing with in recent times?

00:30Yeah so basically I got back from the arts series in New Zealand and we just thought to push my

00:37career on, make me a better bowler, we've changed a few things with my action but obviously when you

00:41bowl a certain way for however long it's been tricky because I don't really have a training

00:45block I've just been playing but yeah it's definitely for the best in the long term and I guess

00:50today shows that it is going to push me forward but yeah it's obviously hard doing it on an

00:55international stage.

00:57Yeah what sort of conversations have you had with the coach and with your teammates around doing

01:03that whilst you're playing a game?

01:05Yeah just like loads of support, the whole team have backed me, have supported me, obviously it's

01:12been good games, it's been bad games but just full support from all the coaches, from all the

01:16players and I guess today when I took my fifth wicket and everyone was so happy, yeah it kind of

01:22sums it up but yeah I've just got full support of everyone which is amazing.

01:26And I guess just last one for me in the broader context of the match, how did you feel about the

01:31performance today? I mean I think New Zealand probably pushed you a little bit more than they have

01:35done but what were your thoughts on your response to that?

01:38Yeah I think obviously they obviously put more runs on the board and put a bit more performance in

01:44but I think I would say we were still pretty ruthless and it was still pretty comprehensive, it

01:48shows how deep we bat, obviously we've won it one wicket down but still when you've got Amy Jones

01:55captain coming in at seven, our batting line-up is, I definitely wouldn't want to bowl in it so yeah I

02:01think it shows the depth and it was still a pretty comprehensive win I'd say.

02:06Lauren, just on the support of teammates and coaches, how tempting is it when you're mid-spell and

02:13working through something new and going wicketless to go, I'm going to go back to what I know for a

02:19few balls, do you have to sort of train the brain to stick with it?

02:23Yeah so I guess the kind of breakthrough light bulb I've had in the last couple of weeks has been a

02:29lot to do with the mental side of it and how I approach it in a game and training's been amazing,

02:34training's been great and you get to a game and it's a totally different story so I've done a lot and

02:39doing a lot of work on my focus and my concentration and I think I've gone in two feet, I'm in now,

02:45there's not really any turning back so yeah I think I'm committed to it and I know it's for the best so

02:50yeah I know I've got support of everyone, it helps.

02:53And as you say, bowling is such a natural thing when you've trained yourself to do it in a way for

02:58however many years, when you're running in now is it second nature to do what you've been working on or

03:04would you still have to tell yourself to stand a little bit taller, are you still working at that?

03:12Yeah it couldn't be closer to second nature, I've gone a long time not really having to think much about

03:18how I bowl and obviously now my change in action I very much have to concentrate on it so I've learnt that I

03:24need to focus and I've got a couple of cues that help me with that and Natty and Crossy at the end of my

03:31mark know and I've reset every ball and I focus in on my cues and I think yeah it's a bit of a routine that

03:37I've picked up in the last couple of months that I think will take me a long way especially in pressure situations.

03:43And why have you done this, is it to, I remember Heather speaking about I think a dismissal against

03:49Paxton, was it Sir Jermaine who nicked off the one that went away from her, was the idea to bring in and out

03:54and swing it to the right hand or is that where it started from?

03:57That's not what it started, my action was very, I fell away a lot and it started through, if it got me on more upright

04:04it's safer, means I can bowl more and it means I should be quicker and from taller I get more bounce so it came

04:10from that point of view initially to add pace to my bowling, pace and bounce and coming, leading me to be more

04:18upright allowed me to then be able to swing it both ways and so it was kind of one thing, I think my bowling coach

04:23knew that one thing was going to lead to another and for me I guess it got really exciting and now it's just

04:29honing in on the consistency of being able to swing it both ways and bowl a wobble obviously, yeah it's something

04:35I'm just going to learn but hopefully in the long run will be really exciting.

04:38And finally just a bowling coach question, is that Matt Mason who's been predominantly the one working with you?

04:43Yeah, me and Mason work really closely and I think he would have felt like a proud dad's day out there, I think he's been

04:50through, there's been tears, there's been drama, there's been disagreements so yeah I think we work really closely

04:56and he's put in a lot of time to get me here.

04:59Thanks, well done.

05:00Cool, thanks.

05:02Lauren congratulations, with your wickets today though it did feel a little bit like you were doing it with more of your

05:08stock delivery, is that how you read it as a bowler?

05:12Yeah I think I went in with a real focus today to just try and hit the length that I probably didn't quite get in Durham

05:19and I guess we talked about this wicket that probably back of length top of the stumps was a good option and I think

05:25I've realised today that doing that for as long as possible is going to be trickiest for the batter so yeah I guess that was my plan today.

05:34And I think that this is actually your first five wicket rule in senior cricket?

05:40It is, yeah I would say.

05:42What a time to do it, how do you reflect on that you've managed to do that on one of the biggest stages?

05:49Yeah I just think it's amazing and I guess I'm really proud and it just excites me for what's to come and yeah I guess this

05:57team is amazing and it's going in the right direction so yeah.

06:02Has it been tricky for you kind of personally being somebody who's used to being really successful and contributing really

06:09positively to the team, both to England and also to the Bible as well I guess to then be having some trickier periods to work through?

06:16Yeah I think definitely I haven't been used to having I guess a few games in a row not quite going my way but everyone I've

06:25spoken to has said unfortunately that is what professional sport is, whether it's because you change something or you just

06:30go through a tough patch of form it's going to happen and it's probably going to happen again and it happens to the best

06:36players in the world so it's just something I guess that is another experience I've got under my belt that should push me

06:42forward in the future.

06:48Perfect, thank you.

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