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Dumbleton Cricket Club all-rounder Dani Gibson is handed first England call-up for Ashes Test against Australia
Dumbleton’s Dani Gibson has earned her first call-up for the England senior team for the Women’s Ashes Test at Trent Bridge next week.
Gibson and Western Storm team-mate Lauren Filer are included in the 15-strong group for their maiden full call-ups.
Cheltenham-born all-rounder Gibson, 22, is Storm’s joint-highest run scorer and top wicket taker in this season’s Charlotte Edwards Cup and in line to earn her first senior cap after travelling to the 2023 T20 World Cup as a travelling reserve in February.
Gibson has also played for various England Academy and Development teams, beginning in 2014, when she made for county debut for Gloucestershire, and moved to play for Wales in 2018, but rejoined Gloucestershire this season.
She was in the Western Storm squad in the Women’s Super League between 2017 and 2019, and has played for the side since then in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
Gibson was named as vice-captain of Western Storm this season and captained her first game for the side in the absence of regular captain Sophie Luff in April, and has played for London Spirit in the Hundred
She was also selected at national age-group level for hockey and was a prolific centre-forward for Gloucester City HC, and went to school at Dean Close and is a product of Hartpury College.
Gibson made the decision to give up her university course to concentrate on cricket.
She told Sky Sports earlier this year: “I started university but then I realised as soon as the domestic contracts came out I really wanted to focus on cricket.
“So I left university to focus on cricket – it was a good time for me because I was still really young and I was only a year into my university course.
“It’s really cool that we have girls who can still do university courses alongside cricket if that’s what they want to do.
“It’s so exciting, the women’s game at the minute. and I am really excited to see where it can go.”
England head coach Jon Lewis, the former Gloucestershire seamer, said: “We are looking forward to what promises to be an exciting Ashes series and we are fortunate that our talent pool is growing fast, this has enabled us to pick a nicely balanced squad.
“Dani (Gibson) is one of the form cricketers in the country, she is improving both with bat and ball and if selected in the team, offers us a dynamic cricketer who can change the momentum of the game.
Storm seamer Filer, who previously represented England Academy, has been a mainstay and top bowling performer in Western Storm’s last two campaigns.
“Lauren is a genuine wicket-taking threat with good pace and swing. Again, if selected in the playing 11, she offers us a point of difference in our bowling attack that could impact a Test match at any point in the game,” said Lewis.
“Our preparations are going well and this week’s upcoming games against Australia A and Australia give us another great opportunity to rehearse for the Test match next week.
“To have two Ashes series running alongside each other is very special and we look forward to entertaining our fans and gaining some new ones along the way.”
The Test squad will play Australia A in a three-day warm-up fixture at the Incora County Ground, Derbyshire, starting on Thursday and then kick off their Ashes summer with a five-day Test at Trent Bridge, (June 22-26).
The multi-format series will consist of one Test (worth four points), three ODIs and three IT20s (each worth two points) and the Test will be England Women’s first over five days on home soil.
England A, captained by Northern Diamonds’ Lauren Winfield-Hill, will play the senior Australia team in a three-day warm-up at Leicester (15-17 June).
The squad will contest their own IT20 and ODI series against their Australian counterparts, the squads for which will be announced in due course.
England Women’s Test squad: Heather Knight (captain, Western Storm), Tammy Beaumont (The Blaze), Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers), Alice Capsey (South East Stars), Kate Cross (Thunder), Alice Davidson-Richards (South East Stars), Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars), Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder), Lauren Filer (Western Storm), Danielle Gibson (Western Storm), Amy Jones (Central Sparks), Emma Lamb (Thunder), Nat Sciver-Brunt (vice-captain, The Blaze), Issy Wong (Central Sparks), Danielle Wyatt (Southern Brave)
England Women’s A squad: Lauren Winfield-Hill (captain, Northern Diamonds), Maia Bouchier (Southern Vipers), Alice Davidson-Richards (South East Stars), Freya Davies (South East Stars), Charlie Dean (vice-captain, Southern Vipers), Sarah Glenn (The Blaze), Kirstie Gordon (The Blaze), Eva Gray (Sunrisers), Bess Heath (Northern Diamonds), Eve Jones (Central Sparks), Paige Scholfield (South East Stars), Grace Scrivens (Sunrisers), Danielle Wyatt (Southern Vipers)
