Women’s T20 World Cup: How Freya Kemp and Danny Gibson are solving England’s batting woes

Kemp played through that disastrous Ashes defeat, but her back problems soon returned.

It meant months of frustration, but he had time to beat her. She played for Hampshire all summer, with only a willow in hand.

Gibson, meanwhile, lost the Ashes entirely. She also had a back injury and not being able to bowl allowed more time to work on her batting during the winter.

In particular, she looked to improve her off-court game and beat Scotland’s Priyanaz Chatterjee twice by cover in the final on Saturday.

Gibson told Sky Sports after Saturday’s win: “I’ve had a lot of football dominance in the past so it’s been a job to try to get off the pitch and it’s going well.

If Lauren Bell and Lindsey Smith are England’s long and short, spin and seam, bowling’s yin and yang, Kemp and Gibson, both signed by The Hundred for over £100,000, are equally complementary.

The lean and wiry left-armer Kemp, almost like Ben Stokes with a swinging bat, hits cleanly or, as seen in her two sixes against Scotland, over mid-wicket.

A right-handed batsman, Gibson can keep the ball upright given her squatter frame if her power is less impressive, but she is more adept at finding boundaries behind the crease.

It makes their partnership terrifying for Bole.

“Kempi has a lot of power and Gibbo can hit square,” Dunkley said.

“They are a great combination and to have a partnership like this gives us a lot of confidence as a top order.”