Dean's Mankad dismissal against India sealed a 16-run defeat and a 3-0 loss in the series. One afternoon at Lord's could have defined Charlie Dean. She was in tears on the outfield after Deepti Sharma's Mankad dismissal ran her out during a dramatic and controversial one-day international against India in 2022. A picture of the incident even appeared on her living room wall.

"We wanted a wall where we picked our most famous cricket moments - or most significant moments," said Dean's housemate and former Hampshire and Southern Vipers team-mate Emily Windsor. "We picked each other's, and I had Charlie. It was raw for her at the start but meant she could have a laugh about it."

England playing their best cricket in years - Nat Sciver-Brunt passed fit for England's semi-final in the Hartley Women's T20 World Cup: Pick your team of the tournament. That day is no longer Dean's most significant in her career. For two weeks, following Nat Sciver-Brunt's calf injury, the 25-year-old has stepped up to steer England into Thursday evening's T20 World Cup semi-final.

At the start of May she had never been captain of England but must now be wondering why people make such a fuss. "Her energy's infectious within our group and she's really led from the front in that sense," said England all-rounder Alice Capsey. "She's been such a great captain and everyone feels so calm under Charlie," added spinner Sophie Ecclestone.

On the field, Dean's spell as team leader has been noteworthy for that serenity. In rain-reduced matches, or in the heat of a World Cup, she has not once looked flustered. "I like to feel calm and in control," she said. "I guess I'm not hugely expressive."

Windsor knows that is not always the case. "On the field or off the field Charlie? They are two very different things," she said. "We had a mini basketball hoop in our lounge, as you do. We would spend three hours doing trick shots and celebrate like idiots. She is quite a cheeky person, but you don't see that on the field. I saw her the other day and joked how much she has matured now. I called her boring because she has the responsibility as captain, but she will always be the same."

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 youngest 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."

Former England captain Heather Knight has been an inspiration for Dean at domestic as well as international level. The careers of Dean and Knight have become more entwined in recent years. They are team-mates at Spirit, England and now Somerset, where Griffin was coach until last year. They are also part of this England squad's guitar-playing trio - dubbed The Guitar Ramen Sisters or, as 35-year-old Knight says, Grandma and the Two Kids - with Issy Wong.

Knight was also the first person Dean mentioned when asked to name her captaincy inspirations. "I saw bits of Heather in her," Griffin says. "The way she turns up, prepares, is very consistent and she connects with other players as well. I remember a Kia Super League game when we were under the pump but you looked at Heather and thought, 'We're OK here because Heather is OK'. Charlie also gives that sense of confidence."

Dean will happily step back into the ranks for Thursday's semi-final against South Africa, with Sciver-Brunt deemed fit enough to play. This remains, undoubtedly, Sciver-Brunt's team. But the past weeks have also been a glimpse to England's future without their talismanic all-rounder - a future, at a leadership level at least, that may not be as scary as once feared. Dean will not be the one to lift the trophy back at Lord's if England are able to go all the way, but has played her part. That wall would need updating.