When England gathered for their pre-series photo shoot on Monday, Alice Capsey had to remember an extra piece of kit.

Capsey has batted and bowled for her country. She has also grown to be one of their most reliable fielders and is talked of as a future leader aged 22.

But she also needed her wicketkeeping gloves because in this week’s one-day international series against Ireland, she will be England’s keeper, despite having only done the job once in a professional match – a 50-over game for South East Stars in 2020.

“Realistically, it is a bit of an unknown,” Capsey tells BBC Sport. “In games, I have not done it a huge amount.

“But the work I have done off the pitch, I know I am putting a lot of hard work in. It gives me a lot of confidence.”

In truth, this is not a punt in the dark. Coach Charlotte Edwards is not fond of those.

England first discussed having Capsey, who was a wicketkeeper for much of her junior career, as an option during their pre-season camp in South Africa earlier this year.

Amid a dearth of alternatives and after some early-season work, the 22-year-old was listed as the back-up to regular keeper Amy Jones for this summer’s T20 World Cup.

She was never needed but when captain Nat Sciver-Brunt returned from injury for England’s semi-final, the idea of in-form batter Sophia Dunkley keeping her place, Jones missing out and Capsey taking the gloves was on the table before ultimately being dismissed.

“Especially at the beginning of the summer, I was pretty nervous to do it,” Capsey says.

“I went into my shell a little bit and was quite internal. It was awesome to have Sophie Ecclestone and those characters who are outgoing, jokey and keep everything relaxed.

“Everyone has seen me train so much now over the course of the summer it is second nature.”

Like all good keepers, Capsey loves the rough and tumble that comes with the job.

“The amount of times you take blows on the fingers, or one goes down the leg side and you miss it…” she says.

“But those are the bits you enjoy, working to get better and better.”

Capsey was a keeper when she came through the Surrey academy, only putting down her gloves when she started playing for a higher age group short of an off-spinner.

“Who knows if I hadn’t played up whether I would have just kept on keeping, but it is really cool going back to the roots and where I started,” she says.

Her time at Bede’s School in Sussex also coincided with that of former England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor, who worked there as a sports coach before moving back into the professional game where she now works with England’s men.

It gave Capsey – a 12-year-old spectator in the stands when Taylor and England won the 2017 World Cup at Lord’s – the chance to work with her wicketkeeping hero who is regarded as one of the best keepers the world has seen.

“The way she went about it, did it her way and brought an X-factor to it was really cool,” Capsey says.

“She has been on my shoulder for the last four or five years saying I need to get back to keeping.

“It has been awesome to touch base with her, especially this summer to be able to message her and say ‘I am back’.”

Capsey began ramping up her glovework in training at the start of the summer, fitting drills around her batting, bowling and out-fielding.

She has also had to tweak her sessions in the gym to strengthen her legs and, in particular, her abductors for those squats behind the stumps.

“I have pulled up, touch wood, after all of it so far,” Capsey says. “Come back to me at the end of the week.”

And while it is six years since her last official outing, Capsey did keep behind closed doors in one of England’s warm-ups against India before the T20 World Cup.

She took a tidy, rising catch off seamer Dani Gibson while standing up to the stumps, a stumping off spinner Linsey Smith and did not concede a bye.

“It was awesome,” Capsey says. “I loved the experience.

“Keeping up to Gibbo was a really nice challenge.

“That catch was one of the highlights but also it is the little things, whether in the first over stood back to [Lauren] Filer and getting one cleanly in the hands, there were a couple of leg-side takes as well.”

Capsey has also been standing up to the stumps to Issy Wong, one of England’s quicker bowlers, in training this week.

The wider knock-on could be intriguing, if these three one-day internationals go well.

At the very least, it will provide a convenient back-up to 33-year-old Jones, who has been rested for this series, and some competition for places.

And, after Jones returned five single-figure scores in seven World Cup innings this year, it could free up a space for a more explosive batter in England’s top order, given Capsey has already cemented her place in the team through her batting alone.

“There is going to be nerves and pressure around, but more internal pressure than anything,” Capsey says.

“As a professional athlete you don’t want to do it badly and you are representing England.

“It is an international series, there are ICC points on the line.

“To be trusted to have the gloves for England has got to give you confidence as well.

“I am not the finished article by any means but I did it for a long time growing up.

“Regardless of the challenges presented this week I know I have a bit of experience to fall back on which is nice.”

Follow live text and listen to ball-by-ball commentary of the first ODI between England and Ireland on 1 September from 12:45, with highlights on iPlayer and Red Button from 23:00.