Tilly Corteen-Coleman: England pick teenage spinner for T20 World Cup

The 18-year-old uncapped Surrey spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman has been named in England’s squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup in June.

Corteen-Coleman, a left-arm spinner, is one of three players set to feature in their first T20 World Cup, with fast bowlers Issy Wong and Lauren Filer also included. The squad includes three left-arm spinners and Corteen-Coleman will be vying for a starting place with the world No2 T20 bowler, Sophie Ecclestone, and Linsey Smith, who is ranked 39th in the world.

The T20 World Cup will take place in England and Wales during June and July. Twelve teams will play a total of 33 matches across seven venues with the final at Lord’s on July 5.

There is some pressure on England to win on home soil. They have never lost a home World Cup — having lifted the 50-over trophy in 1973, 1993 and 2017 and the T20 version in 2009 — and will be looking to build on the successes of the England women’s football team at Euro 2022 and the rugby team at last year’s World Cup. The winners of the 2026 T20 World Cup will collect £1.75million in prize money.

Corteen-Coleman first stamped her mark on the professional game as a 16-year-old when she took four wickets in four balls for the now defunct South East Stars in the Charlotte Edwards Cup in 2024. One of the most talented rising stars in the English game, she plays for Southern Brave in the Hundred and for Surrey in the new fully professional women’s county cricket system. She picked up a £105,000 contract in the 2026 Hundred auction last month.

England’s squad of 15 is, for the most part, made up of players who have formed the core of the team for several years. Most of them also played in last year’s 50-over World Cup when England were knocked out by South Africa in the semi-finals.

The tournament comes a year into the tenure of Charlotte Edwards as head coach after Jon Lewis and the captain Heather Knight were both sacked after England’s disastrous Ashes campaign in the winter of 2024-25.

“This is the hardest set of selection meetings I have been part of because the pool of players to choose from is so strong,” Edwards said. “That is the nature of world-class sport and it is a privilege we don’t take lightly to be able to make these difficult decisions. An ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil is a special moment for the game in this country, and we are all really motivated by what could be ahead for this group of players and what they can achieve this summer.”

One notable omission is the 19-year-old Davina Perrin, who shot to prominence in last year’s Hundred when scoring a blistering century in the eliminator at the Oval.

World Cup-winner and opener Tammy Beaumont has been left out of both the T20 squad and the ODI squad to play against New Zealand next month in an indication that England may have moved on from the 35-year-old, who has 260 caps across the three formats. It is likely that England will open with Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt-Hodge. Nat Sciver-Brunt will captain the side in her seventh T20 World Cup.

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