Day 66: England show depth while South Africa prove they are a match for anyone

 I cannot think of the last time that Heather Knight missed an international match for England. I'm sure it wasn't that long ago, and I will find out for you. It shows how crucial she has been seen to the prospects of the team that she leads.

It is also a testament to her side that her team rallied and won with relative ease when a slight injury ruled her out. Natalie Sciver took the reigns, England stepped up their game, bowling out New Zealand for 96.

There weren't any real stand out performances with the bat, although Sophia Dunkley and Amy Jones steadied the ship that enabled Fran Wilson to score a rapid 31 not out.

The depth in England's batting is impressive; Freya Davies would be among the world's better number elevens.

Each of England's spinners in the final game of the tour will have legitimate aspirations to be considered all-rounders in the future. Sophie Ecclestone has continued to develop her skills with the bat and scored an impressive fifty in last years Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Trent Bridge. Sarah Glenn has opened the batting in county cricket and can move up the order for England.

They will all see just how Katherine Brunt continued to believe in her ability with the willow in hand.

What has not been forgotten is just how well they can perform with the ball, and Jones benefitted from three stumpings due to her bowlers' guile. Maddy Villiers with 3 for 10, Ecclestone 2 for 19 and Glenn 1 for 21 shows just how important it is to have a variation in your spinners.

South Africa got their tour of India off to the perfect start as they comfortably beat their hosts by eight wickets. India were indebted to Mithali Raj (50) and Harmanpreat Kaur (40) to post 177 for nine from their 50 overs.

Laura Wolvaardt (80) and Lizzelle Lee (83*) proved too good as South Africa coasted to the win with 59 balls remaining.

It was just under a year since India's women took part in the T20 World Cup Final. It has been a bizarre year for most of the world, even more for a team that came close to being the world champions.

There was genuine amazement at the squad selected for the series. It wasn't that some players had been dropped or new players brought in - although that played a part - there was no justification for the selections.

South Africa have played Pakistan in international fixtures, and with a good group of players, they have proven that any team shouldn't underestimate them.

Day 65: Time to be brave in selection

If you are England’s selectors, what is your main priority when you take on New Zealand for the final game tour? Is it to select your best team in the hope of securing a clean sweep of the T20 series? Or do you try new combinations hoping that even if the result goes against you, you have looked at your options going forward?

While Sophia Dunkley managed to get out in the middle of the second T20I, she didn’t face a ball. She must get a chance to bat for a while. There is nothing better than having the experience of getting bat on ball. Even if it is a struggle, it will allow Dunkley to work on aspects of her game.

I would also not be opposed to giving Sarah Glenn a chance to be floated up the order. If the runs are flowing, it would be good to see Glenn allowed to smash it to all corners of the ground. She has impressed the coaching staff with her range of hitting.

One of the biggest problems with England’s batting is that there are too many openers for too few spaces. Amy Jones moved down the order to an unfamiliar role to her, but at six, the principles of scoring quick runs are much the same.

Freya Davies needs to be given a run of games now. If that means that more senior players are rested for T20 action, then so be it. We know what Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt can do.

Would it be worth giving Issy Wong a game tonight? I think it would be. Just allow her to run in and bowl with some pace. The more she is trusted to tear through teams, the sooner Wong will get it right.

It is difficult to say when the England players will be available for the regional hubs, but I hope that as many players get given a good run out. With the county T20 competition set to start the domestic season at the end of April, there is a sense that it is a proper season rather than sporadic blocks of cricket through the season.

Day 64: Brilliant Beaumont

It is hard to imagine an England women's side where Tammy Beaumont isn't accumulating runs; if they were a physical entity, she would have to pay an excessive charge in extra baggage on her return from New Zealand. An ODI average of over 45 with seven hundreds and twelve fifties.

When you consider that Beaumont started her England career batting at ten in 2009, her rise to the top has been remarkable. Now ranked the number one batter in ODI cricket, Beaumont is at her consistent best. She has taken the ODI form into the T20 format and as her innings of 63 from 53 balls proved.

The second T20I saw another outstanding performance from England. There were runs for Beaumont and four wickets for Freya Davies, who has been a key performer for Western Storm during their successful Kia Super League days is finally getting a more consistent run with the England side.

It is not just good for Davies but also for England, who have a busy 2022 ahead. With the next 12 months, England will get an excellent opportunity to look at their side's make-up for the next few years. The inclusion of Tash Farrant for the current tour shows that the door is not closed to anyone.

With the workload of Katherine Brunt being monitored and Anya Shrubsole struggling with injury in the past year, it is imperative that England have a group of players who can step up when needed.

There are a group of bowlers outside of the England team that have a decent chance of impressing. Katie George would have been on tour had it not been for injury, and Issy Wong and Lauren Bell are the players after that who have a chance to impress.

There are also players like Sophie Munro, improving with the regional hub system with another season of games under her belt, who should be raising their hands.

This week's 'No Balls Podcast' was an emotional one. After the tweet that Alex Hartley sent last week that caused more fuss than it merited, she spoke about how she has coped with the aftermath. There is an argument that it was a clumsy tweet that Hartley and Kate Cross both acknowledged it was, but the abuse that social media seems to attract was out of order.

If you have got valid criticism, that is one thing, but once you forget you are dealing with real people, you lose all respect from me.

Day 63: is the bat mightier than the pen?

 One of the most difficult aspects of commenting on any sport and cricket, in particular, is how do you talk about a player who is going through a rough period of form? How do you do it, objectively? It is far from easy. There are many reasons why you may criticise a player. They may have played a rash shot, bowled a poor spell or dropped an easy catch.

What is easy is to get carried away from the drama of it all. The way the crowd (when they are around) add to the occasion. As a writer, feedback is welcome because you want to get better and engage with your reader in an informative and entertaining way.

We will always have someone that reacts poorly to something you have done as a cricketer or a writer. Those that write about cricket were fans of the game long before they eulogise about it. Sometimes that makes you get wrapped up in what is happening too much. That objectivity disappears because we want a particular player to do well.

The player knows what they have done wrong and doesn't need the advice of someone who makes up the numbers village third team and plays the game for the teas.

Then again, I would doubt they look forward to former England players' opinions who may have forgotten what it's like to be in that pressure environment. Those on the sidelines commenting have been through a rough patch, had their technique found out and had to readjust.

Therefore the process of the cricketer is much like the writer, searching for perfection. The cricketer hits the nets, and hours of throw-downs while the writer goes through a process of editing; strengths that would be useful on a particular day are put away for the greater good.

It could be argued that the writer, the journalist, television pundit, is there to do a job and describe and give analysis of the day's events. There will be outspoken views on the game; one may be from a deep well of knowledge who can articulate their opinion with great skill.

They will always be the "it was better in my day" type who want to relive their glory days. It can, of course, be entertaining with their different perspective, but then it can also come across as boorish.

On the other hand, it can come across that you aren't giving an accurate account of the game if you gloss over the play's negative aspects.

There is a middle way, and as long as you are objective, fair to everyone and carry no bias, then most people will realise you are doing the best for the sport in general. With most games televised or streamed, someone will call you out on it if you are none of these things. Or they may have an agenda that goes against all that, but for now, I will let you decide.

Day 62: Impressive win for England and other good news

What a win for England in the first T20 against New Zealand? (https://www.womenssportdaily.co.uk/article/2021/03/03/england-ease-t20-victory-over-new-zealand) In a format where a couple of payers can be the difference in winning or losing, England had a team of players that contributed with bat or ball. Heather Knight run out can be exempted as her captaincy skills cannot go unacknowledged.

It was great to see Danni Wyatt look at her attacking best, and it is something for her to build on. If England are to be successful in the next 18 months or so, then runs at the top from Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont will be crucial.

More good news in the women's game is the announcement that France and Germany will meet in July for five T20 internationals. It will be useful preparation for both sides who will be competing against each other in Scotland at the end of August. The ICC T20 Qualification tournament will pit the sides against hosts Scotland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Turkey and each other.

With the T20 format being encouraged to grow the women's game, it is exciting to see nations that you wouldn't traditionally associate with cricket. It is one of my ambitions to promote the European teams in particular, and hopefully, I will be in Scotland for most of that qualification tournament.

England's men go into the final test of their series against India in the early hours of Thursday. Let's hope that there is more talk about the actual cricket than the state of the pitch. While it is true that the pitch can be the deciding factor in a game, it would be better if the skills of the players were at the centre of the action.

I hope there is a recall for Dom Bess; he has taken wickets consistently this winter, but without the control, at times, he would have liked. He is a young player, though, who talks well about his game and how he strives to become the best bowler he can be.

With the confirmation of Jeetan Patel this week as England's spin bowling coach, I can see a profitable period for Bess. They have both worked together in the past; Bess has spoken about the help he has received from Patel.

Day 61: Hit your way into form

When you are out of form, it can feel like nothing you try works. You can, of course, go back to the drawing board and start from the basics with a coach. There is another course of action just to go out there and play some shots.

To feel bat on ball is the ultimate confidence booster; you might get lucky early on a lofted shot evades the fielder a ball that you might have chopped on misses the stumps by inches. The innings then feels like you can do noo wrong. This helps to bring back the old you, and five games down the line, you are back in the swing of things.

One player that might benefit from such an approach is Danni Wyatt. In the recent ODI series, Wyatt was struggling for runs. What is glorious about the T20 format is how those early powerplay overs can reward a batter who throws everything at them. When you are out of form, you feel like there is nothing to lose. It also feels like it is Wyatt's best format, and it will be good to see her get through those early overs and kick on.

There was good news for Wyatt's opening partner Tammy Beaumont, who moved to the top of the ODI rankings. A super ODI series against New Zealand was able to showcase her abilities.

Beaumont has become a consistent player since the 2017 World Cup and had the 2021 World Cup had gone ahead around this time, and she would have been in peak touch.

It will be interesting to see who England select in the T20 series with the Commonwealth Games and a T20 World Cup to come next year. England will want to look at some of the players on the fringes, as it could be that with such a busy year, England's first-choice side may not always be available.

It might be time to look at some of the batting slots, not because there is much wrong with the top order, but to give players a run of games will help develop younger players and provide them with a taste of international cricket.

I would imagine that Maddy Villiers will join Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn in the starting line up. It will be interesting where Sophia Dunkley fits in. It would be a shame if she was in the squad and didn't get a game.

The T20 series should be closer than the ODI series, but I wouldn't bet against a similar scoreline. Let's hope for a few fireworks from the bat of Sophie Devine as well.

Day 60: Stop annoying me!

 One of the things that infuriates me is how people who don't like cricket take pleasure in telling me. It is with absolute glee, and I'm not sure why. I don't think I ever denigrate anyone else's hobbies in the same way. I don't think I would enjoy doing plenty of things, but I would never lay into anyone for doing something they love. I don't particularly like golf, but if that is your thing, then fair enough.

It is the same as people's reaction to women's sports; fair enough, if it isn't your thing, that is fair enough. But leave those who do alone. What joy can anyone possibly get from telling an athlete who has put years of training into becoming the best at their event as possible?

If you are one of those who sees a post on social media of a women's sporting event and are urged to reply, 'no one cares,' I can assure you there are plenty of us that do.

I have met many women who play competitive sport and have seen the passion they put into playing the game and inspiring those that come after. When you write an anonymous message to someone who is putting all their heart into what they are doing, you confirm that we could never be friends.

I don't want to be so negative all the time, but here we are. I will always do my best to promote women's cricket, particularly as I have said before; I need to improve the standard of my writing.

Anyway, let us talk about something more encouraging and exciting. As we move into March, we aren't far away from the start of the cricket season. That anticipation of things to come starts to warm the heart.

I'm looking forward to a mix of different kinds of cricket.

I will hopefully get to play for Sherwood Colliery in the Bassetlaw League. I want to watch and write about as many games as possible, both women's and men's. It's not a case of one over the other. Cricket is cricket, and that is where I want to be.

I have recently interviewed some inspiring cricketers and a fantastic coach. I am working on transcribing those interviews and hopefully bring them to you soon. If you can get them to a wider audience, let me know, and we can work together.

Are there any players or coaches out there you would like to hear about? If you had the opportunity to ask any questions, what would you ask?

Let's make this a fantastic season where the action does the talking, and there are wonderful stories to be told.