Lauren makes her mark in the Caribbean

Former Berkshire seamer Lauren Bell is back on home soil after she starred in England's white ball demolition of the West Indies.

Bell played a pivotal role as England whitewashed the West Indies across three One Day Internationals and five T20s contested on the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbados as new head coach Jon Lewis made a winning start on his first tour with his new side.

Bell, who was one of six new players awarded a central contract for 2023, picked up five wickets in the ODI series before claiming nine as she impressed opening the bowling in the T20s, staking her claim for the World Cup in South Africa in February.

"It was a great tour, we played a lot of good cricket and we were in the sunshine, which always helps," Bell said.

"It was our first chance to implement some of the new coach's ideas and I think we were really pleased with how we performed as a team.

"From a personal point of view it was nice to help the team out with some wickets, I was really happy."

Bell's standout performance came in the fourth T20 when she finished with career best figures of 4-12 from three devastating overs at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

The 22-year-old admitted it was a "special feeling" to impress new head coach Jon Lewis, who takes over from Lisa Keightley having enjoyed spells as the under-19 men's head coach and fast bowling coach for Chris Silverwood's men's team.

Bell said: "We actually didn't meet Jon until a couple of days before we flew to Antigua, and some of the girls who had been over in Australia didn't meet him until we arrived.

"It's only been a short amount of time but we've really enjoyed working with him, I think he's got some exciting ideas that we're working hard to implement.

"I'm delighted to take wickets first and foremost because it helps the team, that's what I'm picked to do.

"We've been given a lot of clarity in terms of how we want to approach T20 cricket and how we want to move forward, that's a really positive thing."

England's attention will now turn to the T20 World Cup in a little over a month's time, and Bell's performances mean she looks set to be right at the forefront of Lewis' plans.

"I haven't played a lot of T20 cricket for England so I was conscious of the need to make a bit of an impression, I'm delighted to have been able to do that," she said.

England also have a home Ashes series on the horizon in the summer and Bell, who opened the bowling with experienced seamers Katherine Brunt and Kate Cross in the West Indies, has been backed to lead England's attack.

The pace bowler's domestic and international teammate, Sofia Dunkley, said Bell has what it takes to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Brunt and Cross, although Bell is taking it one series at a time.

She said: "It was brilliant to hear that from Dunks and of course it's a nice boost, we believe we've got a special squad of players that are capable of achieving great things.

"Every game we play for England is such an honour, we want to do the shirt proud."