Capsey, who made her England debut aged 17 in 2022, is regarded as one of the brightest talents in the women’s game, but is in the midst of a prolonged form slump. She made a top score of 19 in three innings at the World Cup, and has since managed a further 27 runs in five innings for Melbourne Renegades in the Women’s Big Bash League.
The tour is seen as a vital opportunity for England to reset their ambitions against a team that has now reached each of the last two T20 World Cup finals.
The selected players, minus those currently competing in the Big Bash, have been training at Loughborough in the build-up to the series, with the T20I squad due to leave for South Africa on November 16, with the ODI and Test squads following on November 27.
Knight’s team had entered the World Cup as one of the leading contenders after an unbeaten home summer, but were subjected to some intense criticism after their early exit, not least from the former World Cup winner-turned-commentator, Alex Hartley, who called into question the team’s fitness levels.
In an interview with The Cricketer this week, however, Jon Lewis, England Women’s head coach, hit back at that suggestion.
“We work incredibly hard on our physical preparation, the players are in really good shape. We individualise really well around people’s programmes.
“I would like Alex in particular to quantify exactly what she means by that, because I just don’t see it. She needs to be more specific about what she’s saying. There are lots of parts of physical fitness, and you have to be careful when you call a team unfit – we are not an unfit cricket team.
“I’ve seen the team training in Loughborough, and we’re moving forward across the board. There are lots of different parts of physical fitness. It was a really broad statement, and I don’t agree with what she said at all. I am more than happy to have a chat to her about it and be more specific.”
While significant in its own right, the South Africa tour is seen as a vital staging post for England ahead of their next key objective, the Women’s Ashes in Australia in January.
Connor also addressed the heightened scrutiny that the players had been under in the wake of the World Cup, and the sense that they had collapsed under the pressure, particularly in a key period in the field the wake of Knight’s injury in Dubai.
“We welcome the same degree of scrutiny over performance as an England men’s team, or equivalent, but the learning curve is steep,” Connor said.
“It’s fascinating from a performance perspective that we went into that tournament in the vein of form that we did, and New Zealand went into that tournament with 10 consecutive defeats, and they won it.
“It’s hugely disappointing that we didn’t make the semi-final stage. But we will obviously be looking at how we build in that resilience to pressure, and decision-making and skill retention under pressure. Because, for 45 minutes, we did lose our skills and our way.”
England Women T20I squad: Heather Knight (captain), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Paige Scholfield, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
England Women ODI squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge
England Women Test match squad: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Kate Cross, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Amy Jones, Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge