Women's World Cup 2017

Just three months into his tenure as England’s new Head Coach Mark Robinson led England into a World Cup. It was the T20 World Cup in India. England were under-prepared and Robinson was just finding his feet. England made it to the semi-final, but imploded against the old enemy, Australia, falling five runs short chasing just 132. Post-match, with his captain, Charlotte Edwards, sitting next to him Robinson blamed the squad’s fitness. Five weeks later Charlotte Edward’s glittering England career had ended. Robinson had dispensed with his captain and, some would say, his best batsman. It was time for England to start again… Fast forward to Lord’s in May 2017 and Robinson finds himself just six weeks away from another World Cup. This time the 50 Over World Cup on home soil, with the tantalizing prospect of a final on the hallowed turf outside the window, in front of 20,000 people. But can England win it? “We’re in a really good place, but until you play against someone else in a r

I have been fortunate enough to have been an avid spectator at no less then three World Cups. At the first in 1993 I watched only two games - England v Australia, and the Final - England v New Zealand at Lord’s. They were the first two games of women’s cricket of any type that I had seen but I soon became hooked. In later years followed England in every game during in and around Pretoria, South Africa, in 2005, and in 2009 in and around Sydney, Australia. Here are a few of the images I snapped at those events. Some I like because of the content of the picture - perhaps it shows a player at her best - or maybe a player displays a more personal moment with a team mate. Others remind me of events at that tournament even if that event is not shown in the shot. It’s surprising what sticks in your mind all these years later.  So, reminiscing, here we go with 2005... Jane Smit  makes a fine stop. A player I have admired both for her skill and her longevity. I first saw her play i

The World Cup...in England...in June. Surely the first name on your team list has to be a decent pace bowler? Make the most of those English conditions! And by pace I mean someone who can get the ball through in excess of 70mph (112kph), not a medium-paced dobber. Someone who can get the batsmen hopping around a bit, and fishing around outside their offstump, or avoiding having their toes crushed by an inswinging yorker. Perhaps for obvious reasons there are not too many in women's cricket, but this World Cup could be all about the few that we have got at the moment. Katherine Brunt © Don Miles Undoubted leader of the pack is England's Katherine Brunt . She seems to have been running in and bowling quickly and angrily at people for as long as I can remember. In fact she debuted for England back in 2004, and has the small matter of 161 games for England under her belt over the last 13 years. She is the archetypal pace bowler. Should you dare to cream her for four throu

There have been 10 previous World Cups: 1. ENGLAND 1973 Enid Bakewell Format: A round robin, with each team playing every other team once. The “final” was simply the last match of the round robin (although as it turned out, the overall result did hinge on the outcome of the last game, between England and Australia). Teams: England, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Young England and an International XI (made up of players from all competing nations). “Finalists”: England and Australia Winner: England ( who beat Australia by 92 runs ) Notable Events:  Jack Hayward acted as the tournament sponsor, paying £40,000 to get all the teams to England. The tournament was opened by Roger Bannister. England’s Enid Bakewell hit a century in the final. 1500 people attended the final at Edgbaston. 2. INDIA 1978 Format: A round robin (as there were only 4 teams, this meant a total of 6 matches - quite a short tournament!) Teams:

Qualification for the 2017 World Cup was decided via the ICC Women's Championship - a round-robin series between the world's top eight ranked sides, played over the two-and-a-half years preceding the tournament. Each team played three ODIs against every other team, either at home or away, with the top four sides qualifying directly for the World Cup, and the bottom four going into a qualifying tournament with the lower-ranked sides. Australia, England, New Zealand and the West Indies qualified directly; whilst India, South Africa, Pakistan and Sri Lanka qualified via the qualifying tournament. Batting Most Runs Meg Lanning (Aus) - 1,232 Ellyse Perry (Aus) - 985 Suzie Bates (NZ) - 978 Meg Lanning © Don Miles FUN FACT: Meg Lanning once appeared in an episode of the soap opera Neighbours, alongside a baby wombat called Warnie! Most Sixes Lizelle Lee (SA) - 17 Nat Sciver (Eng) - 11 Meg Lanning & Diandra  Dottin (WI) - 9 FUN FACT: A Lizelle Lee

As published on ' Firstpost ' Imagine the eight best sprinters in the world lining up for the 100 m final of the Olympics. At stake is the biggest prize in the sport, boiling down to this singular competition; to earn the title of Champion of the world for the next four years. Now imagine that some contestants get a one second head start. Picture the looks on the faces of those who are left behind. That is exactly what the Indian women’s team should be feeling like leading into the ICC Women’s World Cup in England in June 2017. Jhulan Goswami will be central to India's hopes in the World Cup (c) Don Miles India’s biggest competitors are going into the tournament with a massive head start. For a number of years they have had professional contracts of various shapes and sizes, while India have been the last to jump onto the contract bandwagon. Hosts England were one of the first teams to introduce a semblance of professionalism to their women’s team, when in 2

We have now introduced all the bloggers on The WWC17 Blog - Snehal Pradhan, Syd Egan, Raf Nicholson and Martin Davies . The blog is a collaborative effort by these four, plus it features the photos of one of the best photographers of women's cricket. So today it is photographer Don Miles ' chance to showcase his skills, with his photo memories of World Cups. Our aim is simply to provide complete coverage of the entire WWC17. That means that we will have a blogger at each and every game of WWC17. Given the rather crowded match schedule, which includes 22 games that clash with other games, and two days on which all eight teams will be in action, we think this coverage will be unmatched. [click here to return to the main blog page and Don's photo blog ]

This article was first published on the New Zealand Cricket Museum website at nzcricketmuseum.com . We thank them for allowing us to reproduce it here.  In sporting circles, Sir Jack Hayward is most commonly associated with English football and the Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, in 1971, together with the English women’s cricket captain, Rachael Heyhoe Flint, he came up with an idea which would completely change international cricket. After dinner and, as Heyhoe Flint puts it, “with brandy glass in hand” the pair were discussing ways to increase the profile of women in cricket. Hayward was already known as a ardent supporter having financed two tours by the English women’s side, and the idea of a World Cup seemed natural to him, as did providing much of the financial support required. The pair agreed that, while the concept was a winner in their eyes – and beating the men to the punch would be fantastic, they needed to channel it through the Women’s Cricket Association. H