Lauren Bell’s rise to stardom in cricket is an inspiring tale of natural ability, determination and a remarkable change in switching from football to fast bowling. In fact, unlike most professional cricketers, playing for England was not Lauren’s first choice during her cricket development.
Lauren was more interested in football growing up, playing for Reading FC, among many other sports. It was not until she was 16 that she really began to notice cricket, which resulted in a successful career as one of the top fast bowlers in the country.
Early Life: From Football to Cricket
Lauren Bell’s upbringing was defined by a passion for sports, and most notably football. “If you asked about probably 7-8-year-old Lauren, she would be in a complete football kit running around,” she remembers.
Joining Reading FC to play football at the age of eight, she also played cricket as an extra-curricular activity. Her parents were very supportive, driving her to practice for both sports, but the increasing time demand created an important choice.
Bell was presented with a tricky decision in 2017 after being offered a contract by the Southern Vipers for their winter training programme. The conflict of the schedules for football and cricket made it impossible to carry on doing both. In the end, Lauren decided on cricket, which ultimately set her direction in the sport. “I haven’t played football since, which is a little bit sad, but I haven’t really looked back since,” she remembers.
Lauren Bell’s Fast Bowling: The Height Advantage
Lauren Bell, a remarkable six feet tall, developed a reputation for her speedy deliveries, bouncers, and swings – all factors that have turned her into even more of an outlier and intimidating presence in the women’s cricket world.
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Bell did not at first fully realize the benefit of her height when it came to fast bowling. “When I was young, I was so much taller than other people,” she explains. “But I never had the thought, ‘oh, I’m tall, I’m going to do this.’ It all just worked out.”
Bell, as a professional cricketer, started to appreciate how her height would allow her to create additional bounce as well as some added control over the ball as well. Pace and swing is now a trademark of Bell’s character and she is always trying to enhance her game in that area. “Pace, bounce and movement are the three big things”, Bell says, “If you’ve got those, you’re going to a really difficult bowler to face.”
A Redesigned Action: Beating Back Pain and Enhancing Swing
When Lauren Bell was a young fast bowler, she had problems with her action, regularly slipping and suffering from back pain. Keen to beat these problems, she put plenty of effort into improving her bowling action, eventually gaining more control over her swing.
“I now swing the ball both ways,” she says, an important advance for any fast bowler. Bell has been able to take her career to the next level through her commitment to developing her action and keeping herself fit and focused, placing herself in the upper echelon of fast bowlers in England.
Lauren Bell’s Unique Style: More Than Just Bowling
What sets Lauren Bell apart even more is her own style and how she uses her platform to empower young girls. Praised for wearing plaits in her hair, Bell has inspired many young players to be feminine as they play the game of cricket. She wishes to break the stereotypical view of women in the game and popularize the sport so that it is inclusive.
“I’d like cricket to be cool and mainstream, and you can be feminine and have your hair done and dress up and play cricket,” Bell says. She thinks embracing multiple hairstyles of personal style should be promoted for women’s cricket, de-stereotyping and getting more people involved in the game.
Education and Career Balance: A Cricketer with a Degree
Lauren Bell’s journey to professional cricket was more than just about sport; she took her education seriously too and obtained a degree in sociology and criminology from Loughborough University.
Even when she was part of the England A tour to Australia and played in the Women’s Ashes, she was still fulfilling the obligations of her cricketing commitments alongside her studies and even wrote her dissertation while touring with the team.
Lauren Bell’s Record-Breaking Success in Women’s ODIs
Ever since her England debut in July 2022, Lauren Bell has become one of the top fast bowlers in women’s cricket. She has already taken 40 wickets in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), making her the top wicket-taker for England among fast bowlers in women’s cricket.
Her show in the 2025 World Cup, including the take-downs of South Africa and Bangladesh, proves her further development and contribution to the team.
Lauren Bell’s Future: A Key Player for England
As England gets ready for the challenges in front of them – a tour of Sri Lanka – Lauren Bell will be an important the team needs to perform. She can excerpt new ball bowling well and perform on multiple types of surfaces, and she will be set to shine on tough pitches whether it is the slow surfaces of Colombo or slow bowling pitches in Guwahati.
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