Playing like pros

The year began with the women's Ashes in Australia: England's triumph in the tightly fought Perth Test set the tone for a thrilling series. The highlight was Charlotte Edwards' unbeaten 92 off 59 balls in Hobart, the highest score in a T20 by an England batsman. But it was England's middle-order stalwart Arran Brindle who topped the batting averages, with 61.00. She retired after the series, having scored 2852 runs in 134 international matches, and with 57 international wickets to her name, a hugely impressive career spanning almost 15 years.

England won the series and retained the Ashes, only the third time an England team has won in Australia. Debates over the points format raged in the wake of their victory, though, given that Australia ended the series having won four games to England's three, and still lost the Ashes. It was recently announced that when the next series is played, in 2015, the amount of points on offer for the Test will be reduced from six to four, presumably to try and avoid a repeat.

Australia quickly refocused their attentions on the World T20, in Bangladesh. There were some notable upsets during the tournament: India swept to a nine-wicket victory in their final group match, against eventual semi-finalists West Indies, and South Africa pulled off one of the biggest shocks in women's cricket history, securing a five-wicket win over New Zealand, their first ever international victory against New Zealand, and with it a spot in the semi-finals.

For Bangladesh, it was a great chance to showcase their talent against the world's top sides, this being the first World T20 in which they have participated. Coming on the back of a 2-0 ODI series victory against Pakistan in March, they achieved unexpected victories over both Sri Lanka and Ireland during the tournament. It was a shame, though, that TV coverage was limited to the semi-finals and the final. The ICC needs to ensure better coverage for future events, particularly as their board has agreed that the 2018 women's World T20 will be a standalone tournament.

Ultimately it was England and Australia, once again, who contested the final. England were comprehensively outplayed, managing a score of just 105 for 8; Australia won by six wickets, and claimed their third-successive World T20 title.

Australia continued to demonstrate their dominance in the shorter formats through the year. Jodie Fields, who has been an outstanding wicketkeeper and captain for the Southern Stars, retired from international cricket in June, having amassed a total of 1742 international runs and 127 international dismissals. But new captain Meg Lanning has proved a natural in the role. She was the deserved recipient of the ICC's T20I Women's Cricketer of the Year award, recently leading her team to T20 series whitewashes against Pakistan and West Indies, on the back of her 126 off 65 balls against Ireland in March - the second-highest score in all men's and women's T20s.

Australia also currently sit atop the ICC Women's Championship table, having won six out of six, three each against Pakistan and West Indies. The championship was announced earlier this year, and effectively sets out a Future Tours Programme for women's cricket. By 2016, each of the top eight sides will have faced each other in three ODIs, and will accumulate points for every result. The four teams at the top of the table when the competition ends in 2016 will get direct entry to the 2017 World Cup, while the bottom four will participate in a qualifying tournament.

South Africa have also experienced Championship success, currently sitting second after having defeated both Sri Lanka and India in successive ODI series. India suffered two defeats at the hands of England in August, thanks to more brilliance from Charlotte Edwards, and have only three points to their name. New Zealand, too, have had a bad year: they were walloped by West Indies 3-0 in their ODI series in the Caribbean in September, and end the year languishing at the bottom.

There have been other innovations this year, too. A number of countries offered improved contracts for their women players. Fourteen South Africa women are now contracted, up from the six who had gained contracts previously; and New Zealand Cricket announced in July that ten of its women cricketers had been awarded annual playing contracts worth up to $12,000 annually. Perhaps most excitingly, the ECB introduced fully professional contracts for 18 of its players in May, with top players now reportedly earning in the region of £50,000. And an MCC v Rest of the World Women's match was staged at Lord's as part of the bicentenary, with the world's top players flown in especially to take part. It was a great success.

High point
August at Wormsley Cricket Ground: four days of shocking Test cricket in which the underdogs, India, a team that had not played a Test for eight years, beat the newly professional England by six wickets. Not only did India prove themselves a force to be reckoned with, but suddenly the BCCI seemed to wake up to the merits of women's Test match cricket: India subsequently hosted a one-off Test against South Africa in November, and triumphed by an innings. It provides hope that the dying Test match format might yet be revived.

Low point
The announcement in June that the ICC was cancelling the Americas Women's Championship, making it impossible for teams from the Americas to qualify for future women's 20 and 50-over World Cups. Surely a massive shot in the foot for an organisation that claims to have the growth of the women's global game as its priority.

New kid on the block
Nicole Bolton, 25, made a memorable debut for Australia back in January, hitting 124 off 152 balls in an ODI against England. Small she may be, but the left-hander is carving out a space for herself as a permanent feature of Australia's top order, recently making scores of 59 and 76 in Championship matches against West Indies.

Another impressive debut was that of India's Smriti Mandhana, who, at just 18, displayed an ability with the bat against England that belied her years. Her elegant strokeplay saw her score 22 and 51 in the Wormsley Test, along with 74 in the first ODI, proving that the future of Indian women's cricket is bright.

What 2015 holds
The next round of the ICC Women's Championship begins in January, when Pakistan play Sri Lanka in the UAE; England then tour New Zealand in February. The highlight of the year, though, is likely to be the women's Ashes in July and August, which will be televised in its entirety by Sky, a first for women's cricket.

Keep an eye out, too, for developments regarding the proposed Women's International Cricket League (WICL). The opposition of the ECB and Cricket Australia has so far delayed the launch of this T20 tournament, which will feature six teams of the best players from across the world playing over 12 days, with players being paid up to $40,000 to participate. There are signs, though, that Cricket Australia's stance may be softening - Erin Osborne and Ellyse Perry recently came out in favour of the tournament - so we might just see a WICL launch during 2015. Watch this space.