U19 Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025: England’s Story So Far

Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball) – 30/01/25

England’s U19s have made quite the impact on the ICC 2025 Women’s U19 World Cup in Malaysia, where despite inflicting an English curse on the weather conditions, they have made the semi-finals! The group of fifteen players, led by Chris Guest, are looking to go one better than their predecessors in 2023, and lift the silverware at the second time of asking. Before they face India in the semi-finals tomorrow morning, allow me to tell you the story so far, guiding you through their world cup journey. Highlighting their star players, exploring their performances, explaining the challenges they will face during their semi-final and much more!

Order of Content – Game By Game (vs Ireland, Pakistan, USA, Nigeria & New Zealand), Star Players & What Is Next?

Game By Game

Game One – Ireland (Group Stage):
As clouds loomed above The Cricket Academy Oval in Johor, England prepared to face Ireland in their first game of the tournament. England were put into bat following an Irish victory in the toss. It was a slow start to proceedings, with just the one off the first over. However, Davina Perrin took control, hitting two boundaries in the second followed by another two in the third, before her dominance was halted, as she was run out in the seventh over for 26. From there, Charlotte Stubbs and Jemimah Spence navigated England towards a solid foundation, with their 31 (34) and 37 (27) respectively guiding England to a total of 144/7 after their 20.

Corteen-Coleman opened with ball and England asserted early dominance with an O’Neill x Spence run out on just the third ball! After an expensive second and third over, England’s fielding struck again with a second run-out, this time by Norgrove leaving the girls in green 26/2. Unfortunately, the local rivalry between the two sides brought the game too close to home. Rain began during the fourth over, leading to an early conclusion and no result. Rain 1 – 0 England. A point on the board, however.

Game Two – Pakistan (Group Stage):
Attempt two for England, with their hunger for a first victory growing—this time against a different shade of green. Does a toss win for Abi Norgrove over Pakistan mark a potential shift in fortune for her side? Let’s see.

Bowling first, Corteen-Coleman delivers a tight first over, conceding just one run. Lambert takes the other end, and stabilizes an unsteady start finishing her over with three consecutive dot balls.. The score stands at 14/0 after four overs and Norgrove makes an adjustment, bringing in a new bowler. Surenkumar bowls the fifth and Khan fights back, scoring four from her first ball, but Surenkumar forces an edge just two balls later, and Jones takes the catch. On the next ball, Surenkumar strikes again, bowling Farhan. This shifts the momentum in England’s favour and a Pakistan batting collapse follows. They are bowled out for 66. Corteen-Coleman, Surenhumar, Brinsden and O’Neill share the wickets.

Now it’s the turn of England’s batters, with 67 required for their first victory. They face a steady loss of wickets, but don’t collapse under the pressure, chasing the under par total in just 9.2 overs. Katie Jones stars, following her three stumpings and a catch during the first innings, scoring 20* from 16, including a six to win the game on the last ball of her innings. Captain Abi Norgrove is in the middle alongside her as England claim their first victory of the tournament, and she scores 14 from just nine deliveries.

Game Three – United States of America (Group Stage):

The third game brought with it the final game of the group stage, with England facing the USA in Johor. Norgrove won the toss, electing for her side to bowl first.

It was a steady start for the US batters, reaching 11/0 from their first two overs. Corteen-Coleman reasserted her sides dominance by bowling opener Dhingra for 6, claiming England’s first of the game. Norgrove’s introduction of Thanawala in the fifth over also proved effective for England, as the bowler took 2/4 from her first two overs, leaving the USA at 29/3 and a wicket from Johnson in the 10th worsened their predicament, with the USA only managing 43/4 after 10 overs. However, seven wicketless overs allowed them to rebuild, reaching 100/4 after 17. Despite losing Singh in the 18th, they managed just shy of a run-a-ball total, finishing on 119/5 after their 20 overs.

The responsibility once again fell to England’s batters, with the side requiring 120 to claim their second victory of the tournament. A wicket on the second ball of their innings, with Thomas falling for a duck to Madhavan added a potentially unwanted twist to England’s storyline. However, Davina Perrin took things up a gear assited by Trudy Johnson, with the duo guiding their side to 74/1 after 10, with the batters scoring nine boundaries between them. A further onslaught from the duo saw them score 15 runs from the 13th over and 19 from the 14th to push towards the required total, with Perrin contributing 74 from 45 balls before being caught out with just two runs needed for victory! A single from captain Norgrove from her first ball saw England secure the victory from 14.2 overs. Johnson finished the innings with 44* from 39. They move onto the Super Six.

Game Four – Nigeria (Super Six):
The curse of the weather continues for England, as they bring a slice of home to Malaysia. The game is abandoned without a ball being bowled… Rain 2 – 0 England.

“There was a point, where we were actually questioning that, you know with so many rain-affected games. It’s really nice to, see us come out of the other end today.” – Davina Perrin following England’s game vs New Zealand.

Game Five – New Zealand (Super Six):
England travel to Kuching for a must win game on an unfamiliar ground… no pressure then! Norgrove continues her streak in the toss, putting her side into bowl first.

It’s a slow start from New Zealand’s opening duo, as they only manage 11/0 from the first three, facing Corteen-Coleman and Brinsden. Despite a confident start with a steady flow of boundaries over the next few overs, England get their first in the 9th, as Trudy Johnson gets Irwin for 35. New Zealand reach 57/1 from 10, but does Johnson’s wicket mark a shift in momentum? The Kiwis steady flow of runs turns into a dramatic collapse, losing 9 wickets for 32 runs in the last 10 overs, with Corteen-Coleman taking 3 from the last of the game! She takes player of the match, with 4/8 from her four overs and Thanawala is second best, with 3/19 from her 4 over spell.

England require 90 to advance to the semi-finals, is it game on? Opening duo Jemimah Spence and Davina Perrin produce a rapid start, helping England to 34/0 after only 3 overs. The wicket of Perrin for 21 (15) in the fourth didn’t stunt the momentum, with Spence continuing alongside Johnson and Norgrove until the beginning of the 9th, where she was bowled out for 29 (18), leaving England at 74/3 after 8.1 overs. Charlotte Stubbs continued Spence’s dominance, scoring a quick fire 16 to take England over the line in 11.4 overs. England are semi-finals bound!

Star Players

Davina Perrin (Batter: Warwickshire)

Davina Perrin is the epitome of young talent! This tournament marks her second in England U19 colours as the only member of the 2023 final making team to make the squad again. The 18-year-old explosive batter has made headlines in the professional game since her 2022 debut for the Central Sparks when she was just 15 years old, where she is now a regular at the top of the order. Her involvement in The Hundred for three consecutive years, signing her first deal with Phoenix in 2022 where she was the youngest player to take part in the tournament. This tournament has been no different, she sits second in the run scoring rankings, with 131 from the four innings she has played with her highest score of 74 (45) earning her player of the match against the USA.

“With regards to my batting, I’m feeling pretty good. I’m just trying to stay in the swing of things. Keep it rolling, keeping using the positive intent that we’ve spoken about. That’s one of our team’s biggest goals, and keep playing expressive cricket along the way.”

Katie Jones (Wicket-Keeper: Somerset)

19-year-old Jones has provided quite the pair of hands behind the stumps for England this during this tournament, with the wicket-keeper batter topping the dismissal rankings with nine from the three innings she has played. Her stand out performance came during England’s group stage victory against Pakistan, where she made three stumpings and took one catch with gloves, and scored a quick-fire 20*, earning her player of the match. Away from England, she has recently signed her first professional contract with Somerset, following a 2 year spell with Western Storm, as well as being a member of Southern Brave’s squad through the Vitality Wildcard Draft during the 2024 Hundred. As England continue their search for Amy Jones’ eventual replacement, it is a possibility that they eventually swap Jones for Jones.

“I think the way I come in I’m always trying to look about taking the game forwards, being quite a sensible cricketer. I’m very thorough, I’m very planned and sometimes it works!”

Tilly Corteen-Coleman (Bowler: Surrey)

Corteen-Coleman is certainly building on a groundbreaking 2024, with the 17-year-old spinning her way to the top of England’s wicket taking rankings with seven from her four games, sitting in 10th overall! She took the player of the match award during England’s must win Super Six clash with New Zealand, taking 4/8 including three wickets during her last over. Corteen-Coleman burst onto the professional scene in dramatic style during the 2024 summer, starring for the South East Stars and the Southern Brave, making headlines throughout. The highlights? You can take your pick! Her four wickets in four balls during the Charlotte Edwards Cup is definitely a stand-out, but it pairs nicely with, quite literally, grabbing the wicket of Australian legend Meg Lanning for her first wicket during her debut as the youngest player to grace The Hundred stage!

“Well obviously you’ve got to have good bowlers! I think it’s just that the bowlers here are great, Tilly especially who works magic! We played at the Southern Brave together and I think we have this almost communication where I’ll be like, oh I think she’ll come down this ball! Just that partnership we have is really good” – Katie Jones

What Is Next?

The next task for Norgrove’s side is the challenge of an unbeaten and, in all honesty, dominant Indian side. The reigning champions have left quite the mark on the tournament as it stands, winning all five of their games, and boasting both the top run scorer (Gongadi Trisha) and wicket-taker (Vaishnavi Sharma) of the tournament so far. Their biggest outing of the tournament came last time out against Scotland, where after being put into bat, they scored a massive 208/1 from their 20 overs, with opening bat Trisha Gongadi scoring 110* from just 59 deliveries. Gongadi then backed up her performance with ball, taking 3/6 as India restricted Scotland to 58, and rightfully winning player of the match.

It is certainly crunch time for England, but I wouldn’t rule them out! They may have had less outings to prove it than their opposition, but they have similarly been dominant across their three victories during the tournament. Their bowlers have bowled out both New Zealand and Pakistan, with wickets shared amongst pace and spin. Whilst their explosive approach with the bat has set them apart, dominating chases. As they face their first real test, their tactics and temprement on the field will be crucial to their potential success.

The game also provides a crucial test for the player development structure in England, as the game faces a shift for Project Darwin, whilst also providing a platform for the up-and-coming talent to make their marks on the domestic structure going forward. All 15 players from the 2023 edition in South Africa have gone on to sign professionally with teams across the country, a feat this year’s cohort will certainly be hoping to replicate.

Semi-final: India vs England – Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Cricket @06:15, Friday 31st

“Oh my gosh, I’m so happy with reaching the semi-finals! Absolutely ecstatic. It’s amazing, it’s really nice to have come this far with such a great group of girls. There was a point, where we were actually questioning that, you know with so many rain-affected games. It’s really nice to, see us come out of the other end today. As a team, I think it’s just staying together, sticking together, having each other’s backs. I think that’s something that we do so well. We’re such a tight-knit unit, a lovely group of girls and we all get on so well and I think that’s going to be one of our largest assets moving forward. It’s coming home!” – England batter Davina Perrin following victory against New Zealand.