England women ‘need to get fitter’, says World Cup winner Alex Hartley as she claims there are ‘girls in the side letting the team down’
- England were knocked out of the T20 Women’s World Cup by the West Indies
- They dropped six catches in a disappointing six-wicket defeat in Dubai
- Ex-England star Alex Hartley has pointed the finger at a handful of unsuitable players
According to Alex Hartley, one of the 2017 World Cup winners, the England women’s team is being let down by a handful of unfit players.
England were dumped out of the group stage T20 tournament by the West Indies in Dubai on Tuesday after dropping six catches in a dreadful fielding display that left captain Heather Knight in tears.
And Hartley, a former left-arm spinner who played 32 white-ball internationals, told BBC’s Test Match Special: ‘A lot of questions will be asked, and some of them, rightly so, about fitness. England needs to get fitter.
‘Australia has fifteen to sixteen real athletes. Look at our team – I’m not going to name names, but if you look at them you’ll know. You know who’s doing something and who’s not: 80% of the England team are fit and athletic enough, but there are girls on that side who are letting the team down when it comes to fitness.
‘There will be questions about the captaincy, the management, the fitness, about what’s happening on this side of England, and rightly so. These girls are now being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds and it makes a huge difference.”
Alex Hartley says England women are being let down by a handful of unsuitable players
England were dumped out of the T20 tournament by West Indies in the group stage
Asked whether he thought the women’s team had a fitness problem, Richard Gould – the ECB CEO who is currently in Multan with the men’s test side – said: ‘Athletics in cricket is becoming increasingly important. We want to provide all possible support to all our players.
‘We have invested too little in women’s football for a long time. In 2019 we had 18 professional female players. Next year we will be closer to 200.
“That’s a lot of progress in a short time and there will be things we want to continue to improve.”