'Focus and reset' - the bracelets keeping Bell on track

Lauren Bell wears 2 bracelets each clip she plays for England.

They are home-made - 1 says "focus" and nan different says "reset" - and they shape a mini portion of Bell's accelerated improvement from promising youngster to onslaught leader successful nan abstraction of 3 years.

The 24-year-old is preparing for her first 50-over World Cup, being played successful India and Sri Lanka, and goes into it arsenic 1 of nan game's in-form seamers.

Since nan commencement of 2024, she has been England's astir accordant gait bowler pinch 24 wickets successful 16 one-day internationals astatine an system complaint a fraction supra 5 runs per over. She besides vanished arsenic The Hundred's starring wicket-taker pinch 19 scalps successful 9 matches.

Bell has an infectious optimism, an endearing emotion of her trade and is impressively clear successful what makes her tick.

"I learned rather quickly successful cricket that I really request to attraction to get nan champion retired of myself - I tin get distracted and I tin drift rather quickly," Bell told BBC Sport.

"As a bowler, things tin alteration truthful accelerated truthful a bad shot tin abruptly make a bad over, a bad complete tin move into a bad spell.

"So erstwhile I was changing my action past summer, I made myself immoderate bracelets pinch cardinal words connected them - it mightiness sound a spot silly, but it's really taught maine clarity, really to triumph nan adjacent shot and spot that nan champion point arsenic a bowler is you ever person nan opportunity to travel retired connected apical and to triumph nan complete aliases nan battle."

Women's World Cup: England v South Africa

3 October, 10:30 BST

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The erstwhile 50-over World Cup took spot successful New Zealand successful 2022, earlier Bell had debuted internationally, but she was taken arsenic a travelling reserve having started nan wintertime successful Australia pinch England A.

It ended pinch Bell saturated and unsocial successful quarantine, erstwhile nan remainder of nan squad had gone home, having contracted Covid-19. It is, therefore, of small astonishment that she is keen to make her people connected nan latest version erstwhile England get their run nether measurement against South Africa connected Friday.

"It is crazy," said Bell, erstwhile asked astir nan trajectory of her profession since that tournament.

"Looking backmost [to 2022], moreover conscionable being a reserve, it was measurement beyond my expectations.

"To spot really acold I've travel and really quickly everything has moved, and nan work I've sewage to opening nan bowling and sometimes starring nan attack, I person loved it all."

Bell's main spot erstwhile she first emerged successful world cricket was her expertise to plaything nan shot extravagantly into nan right-handed batter, but she spent astir of 2024 remodelling her action to adhd much strings to her bow.

Now swinging nan shot some ways and pinch canny variations successful pace, Bell is England's onslaught powerplay bowler and her assurance erstwhile bowling successful that shape - often seen arsenic 1 of nan astir difficult - shows nan belief and spot successful her intelligence attack to nan game.

"You're evidently bowling astatine nan champion batters, but I look astatine it nan different measurement successful that I'm nan new-ball bowler, I get to plaything nan ball, truthful you cognize it's a immense chance for wickets," said Bell.

"In my head, it's nan champion clip to bowl. My mindset is that this is an opportunity for maine to group up a game.

"I emotion opening nan bowling, I emotion that it presents maine pinch an opportunity for wickets alternatively than fearing that they mightiness spot it arsenic an easy clip to people boundaries."

Head coach Charlotte Edwards near knowledgeable seamer Kate Cross retired of England's squad, meaning other work has shifted to Bell's shoulders successful nan gait onslaught pinch Em Arlott and Lauren Filer arsenic nan different frontline seamers, and skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt playing arsenic an all-rounder.

The conditions successful Guwahati, wherever England will play their opener against South Africa, person been highly humid and will beryllium challenging, arsenic each teams knowledgeable during past year's T20 World Cup successful nan United Arab Emirates.

For Bell, who could beryllium opening nan bowling pinch spinners and truthful having small clip for rest, this has been a consideration.

"We've done truthful overmuch activity connected that down nan scenes that cipher would've seen," she said.

"During The Hundred we did each these moving sessions, top-up sessions aft games and that's nan spot cipher will see.

"Especially for maine arsenic a seamer, I want to make judge that I'm bowling arsenic accelerated arsenic I tin successful nan past complete of nan tourney arsenic I americium successful nan first."

It whitethorn beryllium Bell's first World Cup, but she could beryllium 1 of England's astir important players successful it.

From nan boredom successful quarantine to nan first shot successful Guwahati, it has been a singular rise.