World Cup day dreams

Six months to go and we’re now really counting down to the start of the World Cup. We are now back home after a tough tour in Europe and although we didn’t manage to beat England, I believe we made significant progress during the tour, which provided invaluable experience for us and the tough challenges that lie ahead.

Our bowling and fielding performances, particularly in the Twenty20 matches, showed we are getting closer to competing with the top sides, although admittedly there is much work still to do on our batting.

All credit to the England’s bowlers, who bowled really well, but we are going to have work very hard in provincial cricket in the coming months to raise our performance levels with the bat.

There isn’t much difference in pace to the bowlers we faced against England and those at the World Cup qualifiers, but the key difference is accuracy. England’s bowlers bowled a great line, which must make life much easier for Charlotte Edwards as captain, as it pressurises batsmen into playing high-risk shots if they want to beat the field. It wasn’t a scenario we coped particularly well with and it is an area that we are going to have to address as a matter of urgency.

Away from the tour of England, I am greatly excited by the news this week that the ICC are going to be launching the first-ever rankings for women’s cricket. I think this is a step in the right direction, as if it is something that has been shown to work in the men’s game, then there is no reason why it shouldn’t work in the women’s game as well.

I also believe that the rankings will help the public better identify some of the leading players in world cricket, particularly when not that many women’s international matches are broadcast on television at the moment.

While the main focus will always be on making sure your team win, it will be nice to know that there is something else to play for in every game and I am sure everybody will be keen to do as well as they can in the rankings.

However, I am sure those who are the top of the rankings will be under that extra bit of pressure to perform, as every opposition player will want to do well against them and show that they are capable of competing with the very best cricketers in the world.

I am looking forward to seeing where we are all rated in the rankings, which I believe will be unveiled in October, and I am sure there will be some jokes flying around the dressing room when they are released on where players are ranked.

Until then, it is a case of training, practice and mental preparation, and day-dreams of World Cup success. Oh – and a place near the top of the batting rankings would be nice too!