Born in the Midlands – her football team is Derby County – Dean learned cricket at Havant Cricket Club in Hampshire, where her father Steven played after a fine Minor Counties career through the 1980s and 90s.
Windsor, three years older, coached Dean in junior cricket before they progressed through the Havant boys’ sides and into the Hampshire and Southern Vipers first XIs.
“There are cricket badgers that love watching the game who vocalise about it. She is a silent badger,” Windsor says. “She watches a lot of cricket but not in your face.”
An England age-group regular, Dean made her county debut for Hampshire aged 15, where her first seasons crossed over with the final years of England coach Charlotte Edwards’ illustrious playing career.
“The thing that stands her in such good stead is she reads cricket really well,” added Windsor.
“That is why we see her as a leader now. She always seemed to be cricket-smart.”
Dean and Edwards first met when Dean was a “very shy” 10-year-old but when she made her England debut in 2021, it was Edwards, by then Vipers coach, who was invited to present the 20-year-old with her first cap.
Such a quick ascent denied Dean, now the youngster of the teams, the chance to captain sides, as she had done coming through the Hampshire and England academy ranks.
Before this summer her only real experience in charge was two seasons in The Hundred with London Spirit, when an injury ruled out former England captain Heather Knight. She was preferred over Australia’s Beth Mooney and current New Zealand skipper Melie Kerr – two far more experienced players.
“My sense was Charlie was well respected within the group,” says Trevor Griffin, then Spirit’s coach. “She had a connection.
“It was always going to be a step up but the main thing for me was the curiosity she has around the game, she understood how to play it, she understood the format and the connection within the playing group.”
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