England in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup, but questions remain for Charlotte Edwards

IIt’s official: Sunday’s World Cup match between England and New Zealand will be Sophie Devine’s last one-day international. New Zealand can no longer qualify for the semi-finals after Thursday’s defeat against India: 36-year-old Devine, who made her international debut in 2006 and represented her country for more than half her life, will not sign off with another world title.

However, she still has a chance to finish with a win. The New Zealand captain has already scored 266 runs in the tournament, including a century against Australia, so it could be a fierce battle against the English attack – and an emotional one at that. Expect to see tears during the national anthems, as well as blood and sweat in the sweltering humidity of Visakhapatnam. “If I’m absolutely devastated at the end of it, who cares? I want to be stretchered off the pitch in that last game,” Devine said on the BBC’s No Balls podcast last week.

For England, the outcome of the match is academic: they are already through to the knockouts, can no longer top the group and will therefore face the loser of Saturday’s match between Australia and South Africa in their semi-final, whatever happens. Does this mean they will happily allow the great stateswoman of Kiwi cricket to complete her ODI career in style? Absolutely not, according to England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.

“We want to win,” she said. “We haven’t been to Visakh yet so we will work out the conditions there and figure out how we want to play best and use the wicket best. Hopefully we go into the knockout stages with a win and take confidence from that.”

For New Zealand, this match means an end; the hope for Sciver-Brunt and head coach, Charlotte Edwards, is that this will be the start of something much bigger. ODI cricket was the big project for Edwards when she took on the role. In her words, “We need to look at our ODI play; I think this is probably an area where we have been underperforming for some time.”

Nine months after the Great Reconstruction after the Axis, what has actually changed? Certainly not the staff. Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight are still the mainstays of the England batting; Lauren Bell remains the spearhead of the pace attack; while Sophie Ecclestone continues to lead the spin contingent. Em Arlott was plucked from obscurity in the province by Edwards last summer, but barely featured in this tournament.

What Edwards has done is try to create new roles for existing players. Some changes have been more successful than others. The new opening partnership of Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont struggled in what should have been their easier matches against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. On the other hand, bringing Linsey Smith into the 50-over fold so he can bowl reliably at both ends of the innings is increasingly looking like a masterstroke. Edwards knew it would work because it was the role she had Smith play at Southern Vipers. Apparently, having worked in domestic women’s cricket is actually an advantage when you take on a role as national team coach – who would have thought?

Edwards is also loyal to players – sometimes to a fault. It is a source of intense frustration to see the repeated collapse of the middle order caused by the inability to play spin, while Danni Wyatt-Hodge – so adept at playing on subcontinental pitches – sits idly on the bench. England’s only team changes this tournament came when Edwards had her hand forced by Bell and Ecclestone’s illness. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she selected the same XI for the New Zealand match, the semi-final and (if they got that far) the final.

After this tournament, England’s focus will shift to T20 cricket: there is a home 20-over World Cup to prepare for. But that shouldn’t be an excuse to sidestep tough questions about their 50-plus lineup. A middle order that can barely muster a run will never be able to beat a team like Australia. Even more worrying is what happens when Knight (34) and Sciver-Brunt (33) are no longer there to support England’s batting. One of the problems with the Jon Lewis regime has been its tendency to bury its head in the sand: Edwards cannot afford to behave in a similar manner.

By reaching the semi-finals, England have already achieved the minimum expectations Edwards set before the tournament started. But their six-wicket loss to Australia on Wednesday brought back unwelcome memories of the Ashes whitewash in January. If Edwards is to shake off England’s unfortunate recent reputation when the green and gold hits the fan, and in the process win back the hearts and minds of the crowd, getting them into a World Cup final would be a good start – a feat Lewis has never quite managed.