Tilly Corteen-Coleman has spent the past two years tearing up the script for what an 18-year-old cricket newcomer is supposed to look like.

A £105,000 Hundres contract in March, a T20 World Cup call-up in April, and now a match winning ODI debut in May — her rise has been rapid, fearless and impossible to overlook.

Corteen-Coleman’s first international outing against New Zealand in Durham delivered everything England could have hoped for. She took 2-49 with the ball, displayed composure under pressure and a last-wicket stand that dragged England over the line by a single wicket.

Stand-in captain, Charlie Dean, summed it up with a grin: ”Tilly was alright, wasn’t she?!”

Dean didn’t stop there. She praised the teenager’s temperament in the tensest moments:

She showed nerves of steel to bring us home and it was good to get over the line.

For a debutant to be the calmest person in the stadium says plenty. For an 18-year-old to do it says even more.

Corteen-Coleman: Calm exterior, chaos on the inside

Corteen-Coleman admitted afterwards that her serenity was something of an illusion.

I’m glad I looked calm out there, because I wasn’t. But Deano helped me keep it really simple.

To also get my first wicket under my belt, I can’t complain. I was a bit emosh to be fair!

That honesty, paired with her poise, is part of what has made her such a compelling addition to the England set up. She’s young, yes, but she’s also grounded, self aware and already showing the kind of presence that wins tight matches.

However, Corteen-Coleman’s rise hasn’t come out of nowhere. England coach Charlotte Edwards has known her since she was a child, presenting her with her first Kent U11 cap. She kept tabs on her progress, then drafted her into Southern Brave at just 16.

Edward’s admiration is clear, she said:

I’ve never met a young girl so mature, so ahead of her years but also really skilful.

A fierce fight to start

England’s T20 World Cup squad is stacked with spin options: Ecclestone, Dean, Linsey Smith and Corteen-Coleman. Only three are likely to play. Ecclestone and Dean are near certainties, leaving the final slot as a straight shootout between Smith and the teenager.

If Sunday was the first audition, Corteen-Coleman landed the opening blow.

England have six more white-ball matches before the World Cup opener against Sri Lanka on 12 June. There’s plenty of time for selection battles to play out, but also plenty for Corteen-Coleman to keep making herself impossible to drop.

What stands out most is not just the wickets, the control or the maturity; it’s the sense that Corteen-Coleman already belongs at this level.

She doesn’t look like a player being eased in. Corteen-Coleman looks like a player who expects to influence games and has real swagger during them.

The teenager’s debut wasn’t perfect, no debut ever is, but it was decisive and that is what Englands need heading into a World Cup.

If this is what she produces at 18, with nerves jangling beneath the surface, imagine what comes next when the calm becomes routine.

Right now it appears that England has unearthed its next big-stage spin baller. Remember the name Corteen-Coleman, as she’s only just getting started.

Featured image via Sky Sports

By Faz Ali

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