Alice Capsey breaking new ground, just like her 'old' days

A total of 14 England players can claim the honour of appearing at a Women's T20 World Cup before their 22nd birthday. Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Taylor, Anya Shrubsole, Holly Colvin and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, all played at two tournaments aged 21 or younger.

This summer, 21-year-old batter Alice Capsey is set to become the first England player to appear at three editions of the competition before turning 22 as she looks forward to her first ICC event on home soil.

"[It's] pretty cool," Capsey told ESPNcricinfo ahead of England's T20I series against India. "The opportunities I've been able to have over the last three, four years have just been incredible. Even reflecting back on it to be a part of those kind of events, it's so special.

"Being part of any World Cup is pretty cool, but to have this kind of host advantage, but also having friends and family [watching], hopefully getting some amazing crowds in, we're all pretty aware that it's probably a once-in-a-career opportunity, and we're so excited for that."

Capsey is coming into the World Cup in hot form, reaching her two highest scores in T20Is in the past month. An unbeaten 74 off 51 balls against New Zealand in Derby set the hosts' T20 summer off to a winning start, and a dominant 82 off 43 in their most recent fixture against India in Taunton sealed a 2-1 series victory.

She also top-scored for England with a 36-ball 45 and bowled Beth Mooney in their warm-up match against Australia in Cardiff on Monday, which the Australians won comfortably by five wickets.

While her innings against India and Australia came batting at No. 4, she began the summer in slightly more unfamiliar territory, opening the batting in the absence of Wyatt-Hodge, who was on maternity leave.

"I've really enjoyed the opportunity [to open], and I think it's definitely something that gives me the flexibility within the powerplay to play my natural game, and I guess get a start, and then try and expand from that once we get out of the powerplay," she said.

Capsey's impressive start to the summer has given head coach Charlotte Edwards "good headaches to have" regarding the batting line-up going into the World Cup. Wyatt-Hodge has made scores of 29 and 5 since returning to the side, while opening partner Sophia Dunkley has scored just 98 runs across six T20Is this summer, with a high score of 26.

With 51 T20Is under her belt, Capsey is confident she has the experience to adapt to whichever role she is deployed in, and believes the competition for spots at the top of the order can only be a good thing.

"I feel like, especially over the last couple of years, I've kind of figured out a bit of a template for how I want to go about things, so I feel a lot more relaxed and a lot more at peace with how it goes," Capsey said. "I've batted from one to seven or eight now, so I've been able to experience lots of different roles, lots of different situations, and hopefully it puts me in pretty good stead.

"I think there's competition for places in our whole squad now, which is really exciting. I think what [Dunkley] and Dan [Wyatt-Hodge] have done at the top of the order has been incredible over the last couple of years, and the way that Dunks can take a game away from an opposition within the first four overs is just incredible to watch."

Capsey's resurgence comes after enduring a difficult spell towards the end of previous head coach Jon Lewis's reign. At the 2024 T20 World Cup, she scored just 21 runs across three innings as England crashed out in the group stage. In the Women's Ashes that followed, Capsey made 18 runs across three ODIs, and featured in only the last of the three T20Is, with the series already won by Australia.

Capsey credited Lewis's successor, Charlotte Edwards, with helping her rediscover a successful style of play which suits her game.

"I think she's been brilliant for me in terms of understanding how to get the best out of me," Capsey said, "not trying to be someone who I'm not, and trying to stick to my strengths, especially in T20 cricket.

"I feel like previously, maybe a couple of years ago, I fell away from that, I went to more of a style of that I wanted to hit every ball to the boundary, and that's probably not how to get the best out of me.

"I've had lots of conversations around that with her, and trusting my game is good enough in T20 cricket for England. So, from that point of view, game awareness, those kind of behind-the-scenes conversations have been really valuable."

England's preparations for a home World Cup have come under criticism from some quarters, with a 10-month gap between T20I series against India in July 2025 and their series against New Zealand in May. Their winter schedule ended on October 29, with no international fixtures after their ODI World Cup semi-final exit to South Africa.

Despite the sparse schedule, Capsey feels well prepared from the intra-squad training camps England have been on since the turn of the year.

"There are so many opportunities around the world now that cricket is becoming an all-year-round sport," Capsey said. "Coming off the back of a World Cup and then straight into Big Bash, actually having that three-week period where I could just decompress, reflect on the summer and the winter, and to have a bit of time at home with family and friends was really important.

"We had Oman, Stellenbosch and Pretoria, so we had three camps across three months where we were able to develop skills, we were spending time together as a group and also getting some competitive cricket in, so I feel like it was a really nice balance.

"It felt like we got a bit of everything, and that's probably the most prep we've ever done for a summer, and I don't think that that's a bad thing. Obviously game time is important, but we've also managed to get game time at the beginning of the summer."

England will be hosting their first Women's World Cup since lifting the ODI title in 2017 with victory against India at Lord's - a match that Capsey has vivid memories of, having sat in the stands as a 12-year-old. Nine years on, she has a chance to write her own chapter in England's World Cup history.

"That final was the first game I'd been to watch England Women play," Capsey said, "so it was a pretty cool first international game.

"I just remember seeing the stands and the atmosphere was amazing at Lord's. Them lifting the trophy, I just remember turning to Mum, being like, 'I want to do this, that's so cool.'"

In the lead-up to the tournament, talk has inevitably turned to the impact a successful campaign for the hosts could have on the growth of the women's game in the country, and following in the footsteps of the recent successes of England's Lionesses (football) and Red Roses (rugby union). While the 'inspire and entertain' mantra of the previous regime was dismissed by Edwards, Capsey believes they are inevitable byproducts of success.

"If we're winning games of cricket, we are entertaining, we are inspiring, we are making little boys and girls pick up a cricket bat, just doing it our way," she said.

Capsey first announced herself to the world as a 16-year-old in the inaugural edition of the Hundred in 2021, when she hit a match-winning 59 for Oval Invincibles against London Spirit at Lord's. A World Cup final at the home of cricket would represent something of a full-circle moment.

"That would definitely be a dream come true, and a bit of a 'pinch me' moment," she said. "Obviously looking back now to think that that happened, and what's unfolded in the last four years is pretty incredible. To have that opportunity in a home World Cup to play at Lord's, I'd snap your arm off today for it."