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 career in the minor counties during the 1980s and 1990s.

Windsor, three years older, coached Dean in youth cricket before they progressed through the Havant men’s teams and into the Hampshire and Southern Vipers first XI.

“There are cricket badgers who love to watch the game and talk about it. She’s a silent badger,” says Windsor. “She watches a lot of cricket but not in your face.”

An England age group starter, Dean made her debut for Hampshire County aged 15, where her early seasons intersected with the final years of England coach Charlotte Edwards’ illustrious playing career.

“What’s so useful to him is that he reads cricket very well,” Windsor added.

“That’s why we now see her as a leader. She always seemed to be smart at cricket.”

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, then the Vipers coach, who was invited to present the 20-year-old with her first cap.

Such rapid promotion denied Dean, now the youngest of the teams, the opportunity to captain teams, as she had done when coming through the ranks of the Hampshire and England academies.

Before this summer, his only real experience in charge was two seasons in The Hundred with London Spirit, when injury ruled out former England captain Heather Knight. She was preferred over Australian Beth Mooney and current New Zealand captain Melie Kerr, two much more experienced players.

“My feeling was that Charlie was very 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 that she has about the game, she understood how to play it, she understood the format and the connection within the playing group.”