England women look to extend dominance

Noting the influence of coaching contracts that allow the England women's team to play full-time, Andy Bull writes in the Guardian that England, for once, are leading the world in the way they run and play a sport.

When Gordon Brown sidles up to you, perhaps seeking to cadge a little reflected glory, you can be sure you are ­making the right kind of impression on the public.

In the Sunday Times, Lawrence Booth says that though England start as favourites, concerns remain over the fragility of their batting, especially if the top three flop.

Scyld Berry points out in the Sunday Telegraph that if England women defeat New Zealand in the final, they will become the first international team of either gender to be world champions in all three formats simultaneously.

That the final between the two best sides in women's cricket is being held as a curtain- raiser to the men's final is not simply a gimmick, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent on Sunday.

Of all the initiatives begun by the England and Wales Cricket Board in the past decade or so – and they are legion – the promotion of the women's game has been among the more significant and praiseworthy. The aim has been twofold: get them playing and so get them watching. Some of the participation figures supplied by the ECB take some believing but there has been a discernible rise in the number of players and in time that may lead to a more dramatic shift in the composition of audiences. It was still a bold step by the International Cricket Council to run the two world tournaments in tandem but it has worked beautifully. The women's group matches have been held at Taunton, where they have caused quite a stir, and the two competitions came together at the semi-final stage. It may be that a template for the future has been laid out.