Test Match Special - Lauren Filer & Freya Kemp can’t tell each other apart!

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

Head INSIDE the England camp during the Women’s T20 World Cup with England stars Lauren Filer & Freya Kemp. Amber Sandhu sits down with them to discuss Kemp’s ability to hit the ball long, the 'coffee culture’ within the team, and why Filer was FIRED from her job at a supermarket.WATCH in full on the BBC Sport YouTube channel or on iPlayer.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. He's widely recognised as one of the greatest footballers in history. He's won the prestigious Ballandour Award five times. He's the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football. And according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he's the first active footballer in history to achieve billionaire status. Guess who we're talking about yet? That's right. Good Bad Billionaire is exploring the life and fortune of football icon Cristiano Ronaldo.

That's good bad billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. So, and welcome to Test Match Special at the Women's T20 World Cup. My name is Amber Sandu and we are going behind the scenes with England's women. I'm so pleased to say we're getting to know a little bit better the two players alongside me. Welcome, Fraykem and Lauren Fyler. Thank you very. How are you both?

Good. Yeah. It is lovely to see you. Now you know each other very well, so I feel like we should just get straight into it. to it. I'd like you to describe each other with three words straight in. The three words that come to mind for you, Lauren, that you would use to describe fair. Gosh, caring, hardworking, overthinker. Okay. I was about to say that about you. I was going to say caring, overthinker, yeah, yeah. And fast. Oh, thanks. That's a good, that's quite nice, isn't it? Yeah. Would you agree with the words that you both used?

Do you know, I literally just spoke to give it actually and she was like, I said we're doing this to get with Fyler and she was like, you're both so similar. Yeah, we're... Actually, it's probably quite good. Yeah, we are very similar. But yeah, so yeah, I would say that explains us both quite well. Would you say then you're probably quite close in camp amongst the team as well? We've got like really similar friendship groups, don't we?

Yeah. So we're all like, they're always sort of like near each other in some capacity. Mixing. Yeah. No, I love this. So already quite similar. Do you remember the first time you both met? I don't remember about the first met.

We toured India for England days, didn't we? Oh, we both got very unwell. Oh. It was not good. We were supposed to go on a shopping trip and me, Kempi and Scriv all woke up in the morning and was like, the shopping trips cancelled. All three of us went down. It was, that was bad. We were just down for like three days.

Oh, no. We would like, all our rooms were in the same corridor. and the whole team went down and we just sat outside our doors eating cereal. Yeah, because you couldn't stomach anything else. Oh no. Oh, it was so bad.

Guys, this is terrible. And then we played a game maybe like a day after we got ill, didn't we? And she was like heaving and deep cover. I was bowling trying not to like. They would like bowl and then go out to the boundary and just be like, oh, struggling. So hot.

That's our, yeah, that's my first memory of. Probably bonded over that, didn't we? Yeah, I was just about that. I was just about that. That was, yeah, that was, I think that might have been the worst I've ever been ill-wise. That was, yeah, tough. Take me back, both of you, your earliest memories of cricket then. Do you remember the first time that you picked up a cricket ball or a bat?

I think, well, I've got two brothers. Did they used to play then? Yeah, we all used to play in the garden, and it got very competitive. I think one word you missed out is competitive. Yeah, that is true, actually, white-line fever. But like, yeah, with my brothers that got very competitive, they didn't hold back. I've got one older one as well who used to just bowl as quick as he kid at me. Yeah, I think, I'm trying to think what mine would be.

I only think I picked up a cricket ball when I started playing, weirdly. So, like, I didn't have any, I just, me and I've got a twin, so me and my sister just went to the local cricket club. And there was an underloving girls team, so we just decided to go down and try because we just love sport. And then, yeah, loved it straight away. It was, yeah, it was good fun. You mentioned your twin there.

What was it like growing up playing alongside her? Yeah, it was hard, challenging. Because we both got into Somerset at the same time. And she actually was probably the better bowler, weirdly growing up, like she got loads of wickets, and I didn't get any. Because I was just trying to bowl as fast as I could, and I could not hit the stumps to save my life.

And then as we got older, I think, she decided to probably not go down in the cricket and I sort of stayed and carried on. So yeah, it was weird, but nice to have each other in like different environment, like going into different teams and stuff. That was always nice to have someone there. Did you both know that you kind of wanted to play for England?

Was that always the goal? Not for me, no. Well, I was like, oh, it would be cool. But I never thought it was a path, really. Like when I was younger, I think they only really got professional into what, 2050? Which I would have been 14 at the time. I think I probably didn't really think of it as a path

because it was only about 15 players that got contracted. So I was like, well, I'm not going to be lucky enough to have one of those. So it was probably only really when I was sort of 17, 18 was actually when I was a bit more like, oh, like this could be, like this could start going more that way. Maybe not England, but just sort of like trying to play a bit more like professional cricket.

And like obviously the women's games grown so much over the last sort of six years that lucky, We're very, very lucky to do that and also play for England. So yeah, it was good fun. What about for you, Frey? Because you made your debut for England at 17. Yeah. What was a 17-year-old Freya like?

Well, obviously, I was still at school. Yeah, so. Tell me back to that moment when you found out. I imagine they had to call your parents. Yeah, mum got called, well, mom and dad got called and then, I think I spoke to Finci first and then Lisa called me. But yeah, I was just, she was just, shocked. You hadn't played a 50 over game had you ever?

I don't think. No, I think I had for Vipers. Oh, okay. Not many though. But yeah, I hadn't played that much cricket really. So yeah, it was just surprised really, but yeah, didn't really know what to expect. Was it slightly daunting going into a group that, where you're the youngest? Yeah, I think, yeah, definitely. But everyone was so welcoming. I was really lucky. And yeah, I've made some amazing friends along the way. So yeah, I think like Danny Wyatt, obviously we played at Bipers together and she's always looked out for me and has almost been like an older sister or yeah, so she's always been amazing. There are quite a few characters in your group.

You mentioned Danny. She is a huge character. Of course, recently become a mum as well. What is the group like? Give me an insight into those characters and the roles that everyone plays. Oh, I think we're like chaotic but in a good way. So much fun. I love chaos. Yeah. Yeah. We do have some, we'd have a lot of fun.

Yeah. Yeah. And like on the like even like going to games sometimes like the bus chat is just like some of it's outrageous but it's funny like it's in a good. Yeah. There's not going to the details of that. But yeah it's just I think we have got such a mixture of personalities and I think that's where we sort of like thrive because actually if there is a bit of a serious time needed we've

got the people that can get others to be like that. Or if there's times where tension needs to be broken, there are players like Danny White who will just say something stupid or do something stupid that breaks the tension and it makes everyone laugh. So yeah, I think we've got like a really nice balance of sort of, yeah, being able to have fun when we can, but also, yeah, turn it on and be serious when we need to be.

Going back to also when you were kind of growing up, were you playing other sports because you were playing football, weren't you, as well? So was it football and cricket the same? time eventually yet to make a choice or yeah I was I think I was like 16 17 I was playing for the Oval Tain Academy as a goalkeeper and I think one of the girl one of the senior girls came up to me was like you can't keep doing this mate and I was like I was so blissfully unaware I was like what do you mean she's like you need to pick like you

can't keep like not turning up to training like you need because they were I don't know if they were professional they might have been I can't remember but they might have been professional at that time and they were like this is just not this not going to work And I think I was like, okay, well, I'm better of cricket, so bye. Which, yeah, I miss football. It was like a really nice outlook for me when cricket got really tense. But, yeah, like, obviously I can still watch it and stuff.

But yeah, it was definitely like an easy decision in the end. It was hard to give up football, but I knew I was way better at cricket. And it seemed the right decision at the time. And it's all paid off. Freya, for you, was it just, was sport just a massive part of your life? I imagine with growing up with your brothers, was it just a big part of your life? Yeah, literally, I think we were outside literally the whole time. Like, the girls take the mick out of me because they're like, oh, did you ever watch TV when you were young?

Because I never know any of these shows or anything. But I think we were just like with Toby and Jack my brothers, we were just always in the garden. And running around, playing football, well, they play rugby. And I lost about five minutes doing that. So I didn't participate in that. but yeah, I tried to play as much sport as I could and played a lot of football with the boys at school and stuff. So, yeah, I guess that was another thing that I did.

You can tell because she's one of those annoying people that is really good at everything. Like she can literally not... Not sure about that. She could like never try it, she just picks up and she's good at it and you're like, oh, for God's sake, not again, but yeah, like you could tell you've just played sport from so young. You spoke a little bit about the pathway

and not seeing that when you were younger. I just wonder were there any kind of memories of watching cricket? Were there any players that you watched? Do you kind of wanted to be like? What kind of your role models or perhaps any games that you remember watching when you were younger? I remember going to, because I, from Somersets, I remember going to Taunton to watch, I feel like it was like an ODI against South Africa and maybe the ashes, the home ashes at some point. But I don't think it had, like it had a really big influence on the fact that I loved it.

amazing and I wanted to go watch but not necessarily play and then when I watched the 2017 World Cup that was where I was like oh my god I want to do that that's really cool that was your turning point yeah I think so like before that it was it was amazing like watching them do all of this and it was it was like really cool to I think I did a bit of like waving the flag when I was 13 or something whatever it was and then I think they came in and did a training session with us and it was always really like nice for them to come in but I never really thought anything of it. I think

to throw Tammy under the bus, but I've definitely got a photo of Tammy when I was very young. Really? Yeah, she was teaching me how to bat and with lot as well, to be fair. But yeah, it's kind of a weird like full circle moment when you're like looking back at all these memories and then you're like playing with these people. But

yeah, 2017 was definitely like a turning point in the sense of like oh wow, like this is, it felt like a really big movement for women's cricket in the sense of like funding media coverage. Like how people just thought about the game, which was really cool. For you, Fred, 2017, what are your memories?

Yeah, that was a big one for me, I think. Like, I just remember seeing it and being so inspired by it. I'd probably about nine, weren't you? I was going to swear. 12, actually. But yeah, I just remember seeing it and just kind of, that was a real moment where I was like, actually, you can really make a career out of this.

And, yeah, I guess, yeah, it was just amazing what they did in 2017. And then growing up, I heard that you worked at a very popular supermarket. It didn't last very long. I also worked there as well, Lauren. Were you checkouts? Were you stuck in shelves? I actually worked there for five years. Oh, wow.

Yeah, yeah. Oh, so you did your service? Yeah, I did a bit of everything pretty much. The only thing I didn't do was like the fishmonger or something like that, and bakery. Everything else, I reckon I covered. And it all came to an end. I'm assuming because you needed your weekends to play cricket and they wanted you there? It was, yeah, it was in the hundred.

100. So I told them. Wait, you were still working. Was this the first year of the 100 that you were still working at Tesco? I think it was it the first or the second year? Because first year was COVID. I think it might have been the second year I was still working now. So first and second year at the 100. And then I, yeah, I said to them, because there's this thing that you, when you go away for uni, you can have time off and then you come back and work again.

And I basically said, can I do that now? And then I'll work after. And they were like, yeah, okay. And I was like, okay, great. And then I'd come back after the 100 and my dad was like, I got some news. And I was like, oh, what? And he was like, you've been sad.

And I was like, What? And luck, well, I wouldn't have known, but he, so my dad works there as well, and he actually got given a letter that they had sent to my house that got lost. And then they'd come back to me with a footprint on it and a hole in it. And it said, thank you for your month's service. So it was quite savage. Do you know what? I didn't, I didn't mind because I was probably going to leave, because I got my first, I think I got my first, maybe like kind of contract at that.

point, I think, and I was going to leave anyway. But they always give you chocolates when you decide to leave, and I didn't get chocolates because I got sacked. Gotted. I was going to say, devastating. I didn't. Missed out on the chocolates. I did.

My dad was like, I'll get you chocolate. I said, that's not a point, Dad. They need to come from Tesco. Yeah. Tesco, if you're watching this, Laurence are waiting for the chocolates, please. Oh, gosh. The TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 Live. What do Beatles member, Sir Paul McCartney?

YouTube megastar, Mr. Beast. And former Facebook executive Cheryl Sandberg. all have in common. They're all being discussed in the new season of Good Bad Billionaire, the podcast which explores the lives and fortunes

of the world's super rich. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now, search for Good Bad Billionaire wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Ray, were there any jobs growing up that you did? Not really, to be honest.

No, it was just sports. My mum actually had a tonic water business and I helped her a bit. So I did a bit of that. some boxes in lockdown. Yep. There's nothing else to do. No, that's so far.

And I'm quite good on the computer, if I say so myself. So I helped her a bit doing that. But yeah, I guess I've been very lucky that since I was younger, I've like crickets, there's been, it's, like, I've had some amazing opportunities and yeah, I guess I'm very grateful for that. And yeah, I just haven't had a job, basically. Well, it's amazing for the younger people,

like the younger players going through, themselves like there wasn't when I was that young there wasn't that path really so the fact that there's now domestic cricket where you can get paid and work full-time as a cricketer is amazing and the fact that there are like 17 18 you are like Tilly's a great example of it coming into the squad being 18 like yeah it's incredible that that's an opportunity now but there are going to be people that are coming in that have never worked a so-called normal job so it is yeah it's like something that's weird when you sometimes speak to the younger players that they don't have any concept

of that and it's very hard to explain like having a normal job. I guess it shows how far the game has come then as well, right? But I was even surprised that you were working up until the second year of the hundred but there'll be players coming through that won't have to do that. You've also been on quite the journey though, for you. I mean making your debut so young and then having the injuries when you were 19. That time must have been really difficult to overcome but what did you learn about yourself as well because it's not easy to go through something like that, is it?

No, it's been a really tricky couple of, well a few years now. But I guess I'm very lucky I've got an amazing family and it's like support network around me and obviously all the girls and coaches and science and medicine team have been so good. So I guess couldn't have done it without them. But yeah, I guess it's learned,

I've learned to just like be grateful for every day that you're on the pitch and with your friends like it's literally like the most amazing job ever really, isn't it? So yeah, it's just made me very grateful and taught me a lot of things just to be grateful and how lucky we are really. You're very resilient. Oh, thank you.

I think one of the most resilient people I've ever met because I think a lot of people would have gone absolutely mental with everything that you have to do with. Yeah, and I guess I'm lucky that I've been able to play as a batter and it's really helped my game. But yeah, there's been some tough days grinding away in the gym. She loves a bike. Yeah, the bike she got me through it.

And I am lucky, like I do, I enjoy working hard and I enjoy like trying to improve myself and improve my game and stuff. So that, it's been good for that in that aspect, but yeah, it's definitely not being easy at the points. You mentioned the support of the teammates. This group, you all seem so close. It seems like a really special group. We had Heather and we had Izzy on the show as well. They were talking about pub quiz and the things that you do to switch off. So when you aren't training, when you're not on the bike and when you're not on the pitch,

what does that switching off time look like? What does fun look like for the team? A lot of coffee. Yeah. The coffee culture is straight even like coffee. That's an understatement. It's honestly ridiculous. Honestly, I'm tripled up today as well.

Are you? Absolutely buzzing. Are you not a big coffee drinker, but you've had to be right? Well, she's a mocker girl. I can just drink an ice mocker. Yeah, I like coffee. It has to be iced. I can't drink hot coffee.

Fine. But I do it more just for the social rather than... Because every time I walk, like, at the order a sparkling water, they're all like, so I'm like, fine, I'll have a nice market. I let you have a sparkling water sometimes. No, you do. But yeah, coffee's a big one. It's quite a nice way to just like explore where you are

because you try and find, because there's a few coffee snobs, so we've got to find the best coffee wherever we go. Well, I was speaking to, I can't remember who it was, but they had an app. They had an app about the best coffee shops. I've got the best coffee app. Do you? But I never really use it.

Maybe that's what it is. I'm more of just like, I just go where everyone else wants to go because it's just easier. People pleases. It's taken seriously. Yeah. Definitely.

We also have, a few of us, well I definitely do it, is like on Google Maps will always like heart places. Oh, we love doing that. So yeah, so if we go back to the... We know the new thing is you can put like whether it's a coffee shop or a restaurant.

Oh, really, can you? So I've got like little coffee. markers everywhere. Yeah, that's what I'm. Yeah, and it's great when, like, people are heading up to certain places. You're like, I've got ten restaurants or ten coffee shops that you could go to. But we do a lot of that. What else do we do?

Walks. A lot of the girls play golf and paddle. Yeah, golf and paddles, a big one. I'm on a band. Yeah, I'm not allowed to play, but. Just because injury or? Injuries. Yeah.

Just being careful. I'm quite a clumsy person as well, so I probably end up hurt myself. But yeah. Yeah, I'm trying to think. What else do we do? I feel like, depending on where we are, how long we've got, we probably, we do find time to do something. It's just sometimes it's not always like, it's not always the same. Yeah, shopping.

London's a big, always gets a big hit to the bank account, that one, doesn't it? Yeah. I'm getting a good sense to the personalities. Coffee, shopping, walks, YouTube, ban on paddle and any extra collective activity. The only chill activities. Let's talk World Cup then. A home World Cup. We've heard how special it is.

What is it going to mean to you to have your friends and family there? Because I guess that's a big part of it being so special and why it will mean so much. Yeah, I can't wait. It's just so nice when you're playing and walking on the pitch and all the family are sat together, all together. Yeah, I guess it's so nice that kind of, because it's a home world cup,

it's so much easier for everyone to get to all the games and stuff. So, yeah, I guess that makes it. very special. I don't know what you think but. Yeah, I think similar. Like it's my parents still don't aren't really used to it. I don't think like yeah I like we've not come from like a very like sort of rich background so actually a lot of this is quite like so amazing to them and they're just not used to it so it's quite like a it's a really like wholesome thing to be able to even like hospitality tickets to give them and they just have like a lovely time and like even if I'm not playing there and they love the hospital in more ways than one and yeah and it's just like it's so nice

to be like give like give them the opportunity to sort of like watch watch this and stuff and uh and sort of watch the games and a home world cup is probably a once in a career opportunity luckily a few of the girls have been lucky enough to have too when you were talking about your parents i thought it was so lovely because it's like that you know that meme where it's like it's like your parents and live in their life for the first time as well i just thought it was very sweet yeah that yeah that is so true It was just really nice. Yeah, they love it. And I always get Heather's partner, Tim, always says,

I love your parents. So I said, well, they drunk again? And she was like, no. It's when someone goes, they're just such great fun. I'm like, oh no, what have they done this time? It's all the free drinks, the hospitality. Yeah, I know. They've been a great time, as they should.

Yeah, very true. They worked hard for me when I was younger, so they deserve it. Right, before you go, a few. Quickfire questions. I've got three or four if that's okay. The last gig that you went to? Oh quickfire. Ray. Oh, what was that in London? It was in Manchester. I went with Gibba. It was so good. Yeah. She was very good. Gig. Cold play. That's a game. Yeah. Yeah. That was a concert. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. If you want a cricketer, what would you be? A nature videographer.

niche. Tell me more. Well, I just love watching. That's really neat. Well, when I was young, I love animals. I also wasn't expected to go there. Tell me more, David Attenborough. Well, that was it. That was, I watched so much like planet Earth and like all that sort of stuff. And yeah, loved, loved all of that. So I was like, how cool would it be just get traveling the world and David Attenborough? Yeah. That, honestly, might be the best answer. Yeah, no hesitation. Oh gosh.

I'd like to be like an Essency or a physio, not a physio probably actually, probably a personal trainer or something like that. So still wins a ball. Quite interesting, yeah, the like human body and stuff. What's one thing people don't know about you? Quick fire, quick fire, oh. I've got two sausage dogs. Oh, names. Tommy and Dave.

Everyone knows I've got a dog. I talk about it more time. Well, I probably talk about one time. Also, Dave is just a great name. Yeah. Especially for a sausage dog. God. I like to draw.

That's so boring. No. It's not boring. Yeah. I like to draw. And we didn't know that about you, so it's a brief. If there was one skill that you could add from your teammates game to your own game, who and what would it be?

Her with the about how far she hit the ball. Okay. Like, when you watch her in like range hitting, it's incredible. I'm like, I want to hit sixes like that. It'd be fun. Thank you, fire. No worries. You don't have to say, you're at high speed with the ball.

Oh, I like this. It's wholesome. Oh, you didn't have to save me. No, I know, but it's true there. I'd like to roll as fast as me. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for being here. Remember, you can catch them both in action on Test Match special via BBC Sounds.

We've got every ball of every game live from the women's T20 World Cup. And we'll see you there. Five light sports. My favourite World Cup moment? It's the first World Cup I properly remember watching. Argentina 78. The ticker tape, Mario Kempes, Ari Hahn's scoring goals from miles out,

and always one of my favourite World Cup moments. Archie Gemmels' great goal for Scotland against the Dutch. What makes the World Cup such a special tournament is the atmosphere, the colour, it is a meeting of the nations, and of people who love football. The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds

He's widely recognised as one of the greatest footballers in history He's won the prestigious Ballandour Award five times He's the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football And according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index He's the first active footballer in history to achieve billionaire status Guess who we're talking about yet? That's right, good bad billionaire is exploring the life and fortune of football icon Cristiano Ronaldo

That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.