In a recent statement to the media, England’s Lauren Winfield has shown optimism regarding her national team’s T20 World Cup campaign. She stated that the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 is within their reach and they only need to play to the best of their potential in the “hottest tournament ever.”

Notably, the English side has not been consistent at all especially in T20I cricket in the recent past. Winfield and team were defeated twice by Australia in Ashes 2019 before putting up impressive performances in bits and pieces.

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It is in this context that many fans are eager to see how this new-look English side coached by Lisa Keightley goes about their business in the forthcoming world tournament.

“I don’t think we know how good we can be yet,” Winfield was quoted as saying by ICC.

“That’s a really exciting space for us to be in,” she said.

“We’ve had a change in coach and also our batting order, while there are also a few young players who have come in which has changed the dynamics within the team – it looks completely different to the one we had at the last T20 World Cup in 2018.

“We haven’t been together as a T20 side for very long so we don’t really know what we can do yet.

“The tri-series was a good measure of where we’re at. We’ll take massive confidence from beating Australia in the Super Over and knowing we can get over the line when playing the favourites.

“It was the best preparation we could have possibly had,” she added.

England’s World Cup opener would be against South Africa in Perth on 23 February. The result of the match could well turn out to be the difference in a group which also includes West Indies, the 2016 Champions.

The English batswoman stated that since its a 20-over format, no team starts the tournament as favourites to win.

“I think this will be the best World Cup we’ve ever had,” the 29-year-old said.

“With this format, in this country and with the groups as they are – it’s going to be the hottest tournament ever. It’s not just about two teams anymore but everyone is going to be a real contest. That’s absolutely what we want. We want to be pushed to the limits every single time we play,” she added.

The first match of the much-anticipated tournament opener will be played between Australia and India in Sydney on 21 February, Friday.