England’s Lauren Filer says she wants to break the 80mph barrier to prove women can bowl with such pace.
Filer bowled three of the fastest 10 recorded overs by a woman in Friday’s five-run T20 win over India, including claiming the wicket of star opener Smriti Mandhana.
“It’s not necessarily a personal milestone for myself, but actually proving women can get to that milestone, and hopefully others can follow as well,” said Filer.
“I don’t want it just to be one or two people – we want loads of women to be able to be bowling at that speed.”
The 80mph feat has never been officially recorded in a women’s international match and Filer says the prospect of inspiring a new generation of fast bowlers acts as motivation.
“I think after Friday, people are probably talking about it more than they were and hopefully if I can hit it [80mph], then it encourages other people to try and aim for that and actually make the game even more exciting than it already is,” Filer, 24, said.
“Obviously the women’s game has gone so prolific over the last few years, and I know that when I come off the pitch, a lot of people say how excited they are to watch the bowling.”
Beyond the excitement around pace, Friday’s win having lost nine wickets for just 31 runs is something that Filer says breeds confidence for a side often criticised for their ability to handle pressure.
“Even as players we felt there was a shift in mentality,” Filer said.
“The mentality we had moving forward and into that game, when good and bad things happened, we stayed level. And I think that’s where we want to be in these pressure situations and show we can do it against the best in the world.”
With India leading the five-match T20 series 2-1, England need a win at Old Trafford on Wednesday to keep the T20 contest alive, before three one day internationals wrap up India’s tour.
Filer is part of the ODI squad which will be looking for fine-tuning ahead of a busy autumn including the Women’s World Cup in India.
“We can’t wait to see how we go against India. We obviously played very well against West Indies, I think we want to take that into India and hopefully we can get a few wins before the World Cup,” added Filer.
