It has not been the straightest of roads. When England won Commonwealth Games gold in 2018 on Australia’s Gold Coast, with a last-second victory over Australia courtesy of Helen Housby, they seemed set to usurp the long-term dominance of the Australians and their southern hemisphere neighbours New Zealand.
A year later England took bronze at the World Cup in Liverpool, but, as quickly as it came, the gloss disappeared. As it tends to be, the final was between Australia and New Zealand. Before the tournament the England head coach, Tracey Neville, had already signalled her intention to step down to start a family. There was a sense of mission unfulfilled: “I will, hopefully, get an opportunity to lead again in the future,” she said.
Neville’s
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