Ebony Rainford-Brent and captain Charlotte Edwards have been benefiting from their deals © Getty Images

What an exciting time for the sport, with the World Twenty20 announcement – and for England women in particular. Having had our most successful tour of Australia and New Zealand ever we came into the new season all abuzz, especially when the eight contracts were announced and I was lucky to get one of them. They’ve been designed to allow us to be able to both play cricket at international level and also be able to give back to women’s cricket through Chance to Shine to try to increase girls’ participation.

My typical week involves going into schools and clubs three days a week and trying to get in around 25 hours’ a week of coaching time. That’s fitted around my training, so I will still get to do my England training commitments and Surrey Academy and play all games. I’m enjoying it so far. Initially I found it testing because it was seven days a week between training and playing but luckily I’ve been able to rejig it to cut down on travelling time – flexibility I wouldn’t have in most other jobs.

We're so lucky having the ECB on board who are very forward thinking – and already Cricket Australia seem to have taken a leaf out of their book with the announcement this week that their women are to receive contracts. It’s already making a difference for us – it takes the stress away of preparing for the summer for a start – you’re not having to think about external employers whose priority isn’t your cricket, whereas this way it’s all in-house and everyone’s working together.

It’s important for women’s cricket that all countries, where possible, move towards offering contracts of this sort of nature because we need to make sure that everyone is competing on an even playing field rather than, say, us and Australia get better because we have the ability to now commit to cricket. Now the ECB has blazed a trail, hopefully other boards will follow suit as with CA. It will be interesting to hear what the other players have to say about it.

The changes will take a while to come to effect but they've come in good time for the World Cup and World Twenty20 next year. One thing is for sure - England women now have support that past female cricketers have never had. Now it's about translating these advantages into further results and we've got plenty of opportunities this summer with West Indies, South Africa and India all visiting.

In the run-up to them, we have plenty of games to keep us busy including our recent Twenty20 where England played the Academy. It was nice to be named in the England team for the day and fingers crossed this will continue in selection for the rest of the summer.

I've got some good runs under my belt already - I think having two months in Australia in the off-season definitely helped. I played for Port Adelaide alongside Karen Rolton and Emma Sampson when they weren't on international duty. The experience gave me a chance to put some things into place and trial some thing ahead of our domestic season – no switch hits, though.

Since getting back, the Super Fours have been good as ever, because they give you a chance to test yourself. This year I’ve had the chance to open for the Diamonds, which is nice. I’ve done OK but with a few games left I really want to kick on as it’s the main forum for England selection.

	I hope to be able to juggle my advent into the position of captain for the series with keeping up my own playing form © ICC

There have been a few changes to the squad since the ICC Trophy – Beggsie (Caitriona Beggs) and Lenny (Anne Linehan) retired at the end of the tournament, Elaine Nolan started her world travels from South Africa, Jill Whelan is also taking time out to travel, and captain Heather Whelan has stepped back from the game for a year.

A complete change is going on behind the scenes too. Our coach Miriam Grealey has retired after two years of hard work, as has our manager Sandra Dawson. However, we are very excited to have Matt Dwyer taking us for the upcoming series. A former international himself, Matt has a knowledge of the game that few can boast. We just hope he goes easier on us than he does on his son Mark!

Of course when players retire, or leave the game for a while, there are always those ready to take their places. There will be three new faces on the squad since February who will all want to prove themselves and cement their places before the roving travellers arrive back to try and reclaim their positions.

Amy Kenealy, Joanne McKinley and Cathy Murphy have worked hard so far this season to make themselves valuable additions to the team.

Having played West Indies only once before, and that being approximately five years ago, I personally don’t know much about them. I’ve been told bits and pieces about the last time the girls played them, but I think they are a somewhat unknown quantity. Their last international match was in the 2005 World Cup, and much has probably changed since then – only five of their 16-strong squad has been capped before.

This is our opportunity to see what stage we are at, to try and prove that we are there or thereabouts when it comes to teams that are just a few places above us in the world rankings, to see what we need to work on, and to hopefully regain a bit of pride.

So far as individual players go; Clare Shillington has been prolific with the bat in the domestic league so far this season, and Marianne Herbert extremely miserly with the ball. We will be hoping that both of them can carry this run of form into the series.

We are also excited to see the return of Melissa Scott-Hayward into the fold after a gruelling few weeks of examinations.

Personally, I hope to be able to juggle my advent into the position of captain for the series with keeping up my own playing form. Luckily I have some experienced senior players to help me in the shape my vice-captain Nicki Coffey and former captain Shillington. First of all though, we need the weather to do us a favour and clear up so we can get the series under way tomorrow!

	It'll be an exciting and novel experience playing alongside the Pakistan men at the World Twenty20 © AFP

I am very excited about today's announcement on the ICC World Twenty20 2009. It has been officially confirmed that we will be playing in a joint event with the men next year, with the semis and final of the women's event taking place as a curtain-raiser to the men's event.

Normally I am glued to the action whenever Pakistan's men are playing in an international event, so to be part of the same event is going to be an incredible feeling.

The draw is very tough for us, as we struggled against India and Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup, but hopefully we will have improved in time for then.

I am looking forward to having the opportunity to seeing some of the stars of the game, who I have read about but never played against. While I have played against India and Sri Lanka many times before, I have never played Australia or New Zealand.

It's quite strange knowing all the stats about some of the top players, but not really knowing their style of batting or bowling, as there is so little women's cricket on television at the moment.

Obviously we have the World Cup before then and that will obviously provide a great opportunity to see how people approach their batting and bowling. But both ICC events in 2009 are a long way off for the moment, so there are other things to focus upon for the moment.

	Yet to play Australia and New Zealand © Getty Images

Judging by some of the comments on the blog, plenty of people think I have some work to do on my game, so they will be pleased to know I now have my own coach to really help me develop my batting. I thought this was the best solution given that my plans to go to England hadn't worked out. I have been working for three hours a day on my batting, which has been supported by a vigorous training programme which has been designed for me by my fitness trainer.

Quite a few of the girls are undergoing similar regimes and I am pleased to report that my training is beginning to pay dividends with some good scores in some of the matches I have played recently.

I hope I will be able to translate this form to the next domestic competition, which starts in July, which will hopefully provide the opportunity for some of the most talented players from a junior camp, which takes place later this month, to be exposed to a national competition.

Until then, it is more batting and bowling practice, yet more waiting for my dentistry results, a diving holiday in Thailand and day dreams of success in the World Twenty20.

	The interest from everybody during the course of the awards evening is a reflection of the increased interest in women’s cricket at home since the Qualifiers earlier in the year © ICC

I had been shortlisted twice before for the award but never managed to win the accolade, so it was a special moment to finally receive my trophy.

I think my award was in recognition of the efforts of leading the side to success at the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier and for my first ODI century against Netherlands at that event, which was especially pleasing as my coach had been working with me for a long time to try and help me reach three figures in a big match.

I always really enjoy these award evenings as it is chance to meet other members of the cricket community in South Africa and talk to sponsors about what the team have been up to. It was great that some of the men’s senior team took the time to come and chat to me and the other female nominees, who were Susan Benade and Daleen Terblanche. I had a really good chat with Graeme Smith who wanted to congratulate us on reaching the World Cup and World Twenty20 next year.

It was good to find out how the guys are preparing for their tour of England and how they compare to our preparations.

We don’t leave for the UK for another month, while the men’s team is off next week, but we both face similar challenges in our preparation and it is always useful to learn from the very best.

It’s great to have interest from the likes of Graeme and Paul Harris, who was also really supportive of our efforts, and hopefully we’ll have an opportunity to meet up at some point in the summer in England.

It would be great if our schedules permit the opportunity the chance for us to watch them in action this summer or if they could perhaps come down to some of our games.

I’m not so sure I would want to have a joint training session though and face Dale Steyn in the nets, who was one of the big award winners on Tuesday night! The interest from everybody during the course of the awards evening is a reflection of the increased interest in women’s cricket at home since the Qualifiers earlier in the year.

The media support we are receiving on the back of that event, seeing features on the side in publications like Sports Illustrated this month, is a big motivating factor for me and the whole of the team to do well as we want to do our country proud.

And if this time next year I’m writing about the great competition I faced from my team-mates in trying to win the Player of the Year award, as a result of brilliant performances at ICC events, then I will be a happy captain!

	Lots to do for Haidee Tiffen's New Zealand as they build towards the World Cup © Getty Images

World Cups just sneak up on you! It does not seem that long ago that we were in South Africa in 2005 battling it out. I know every team is looking forward to the World Cup next year as this is what we play for, the challenge to be the best in the world. After a disappointing home series in February losing to both England and Australia, New Zealand are ready to move forward and are determined to prove that we can be world champions. We know that means we need to knuckle down to hard work, hard work and more hard work.

We had our first winter camp in preparation for the World Cup at the Queen's birthday weekend. It was great to see everyone again with the girls arriving fresh and raring to go. We spent time establishing a strong foundation for our journey to the World Cup and started by spending time remembering where we began our cricketing endeavours and why we play the game.

John Wright came and spoke to the squad to communicate that New Zealand Cricket are 100% behind us in our preparation and believes in our team immensely. He knows - and we know - we are yet to hit our straps and that is what is exciting about our team. We then had fitness testing which establishes our bench marks and assists our fitness trainer Greg Owen in designing our training programs.

We also enjoyed an excellent session with the men's batting coach – Mark O'Neill. He showed us video footage of some of the top Aussie and New Zealand men and how he had assisted them with their batting technique. Mark also gave us some basic tools to develop our own skills and the girls came away ready for action and to expand our game even more.

Kiwis love their sport, it is a known fact, and with the Super-14 final on that weekend the girls were very keen to take a closer look at Dan Carter's and Richie McCaw's 'sporting' talents. It was a shame we could not go see the match live since it was in Christchurch but with a team meeting in the evening we got to see the second half on television. It was better than nothing and still got to see a good rugby match. A good result too for Dan and Richie fans!

In amongst the skills, drills, fitness and analysis a positive feel was beginning to build amongst the girls with many laughs and good stories shared. We are all looking forward to the next nine months until the World Cup but lots to do before then.

	The popularity of the IPL has made women eager to play Twenty20 as well © AFP

Our Railways camp ends today in Mysore and it was a satisfying one considering it is our first off-season camp. We have the strongest side in domestic cricket but that is because a good number of India players play for Railways. And that is because Indian Railways is one of the few organisations to offer employment to cricket-playing girls. However it is not that other teams can’t beat us at all, but since we are a very experienced side we are on top more often that not.

While the camp was on, I had to go to to attend a board meeting on women’s cricket. Jhulan Goswami, the vice-captain, was also there along with the national selectors. I can’t really discuss what went on in the meeting but I am happy to say a domestic Twenty20 competition has been added to next season’s calendar keeping in mind the World Cup in England next June. I have said earlier that it is important for players to get some experience in the short format before the World Cup – not only national players but also those in the domestic circuit. The IPL has been a huge hit and now everyone is eager to play this format.

We have two big tours coming up – England in September and Australia in November – and these will be ideal preparation for the 50-over World Cup in Australia next March. Before the 2005 World Cup as well, we had some big series – Australia, New Zealand and England - to prepare ourselves. Although last year we had only one international series, the BCCI is now working on making our calendar more regular. It took a long time for men’s cricket to get to where it is today, so we need to be patient, after all the board has been handling the women’s game for only two years now.

We will also now have more matches in the inter-state one-dayers. Earlier if a team was knocked out in the first match of the second leg, they had to wrap up and go, but now they will get to play the whole tournament. This means there will be more competition among teams. Playing in a domestic side can be quite different from playing for the national team. In state sides there are strong players and then there are the weak ones as well, so the talent is spread out over different teams. Whereas in a national team you have your best XI of the country. Say, in an international match – in the case of batsmen - if one batsman gets out, another equally good one comes in. But domestic teams lack such depth. There will be four to five players who can score and the tail can’t do a rescue-act in case they collapse. In internationals, the last few can also come together and get the runs required for the side.

I believe one way of getting talent fast-tracked in to the state sides is through Under-19 zonal tournaments. These players are already of a good standard so helping them through to the higher level will be easier since they excel in age-group cricket of their level.

In our Railways camp, those of us in the Indian team have been working on our individual weaknesses. For others as well, this is a way to avoid getting stale and keep up the training regime. We have fitness training and nets – in the morning we either go to the gym or work on our endurance, speed or agility. We have speed exercises like the shuttle run where we touch a cone and run back to our mark and endurance ones like a 400 metre run in which we alternately jog and stride. Since it is monsoon season, in the evenings we have a swim session or play volleyball, football.

If I had to organise a camp – say for young players – I would mainly concentrate on fitness for we tend to play more matches these days. It takes a toll on the body and if your muscles are weak there are chances of being injury-prone. Fielding is another area I’d stress on – India have always been poor in fielding, though after watching the IPL, I think the men have improved a lot. I have seen in other countries players are taught how to dive, slide etc at a very young age. In India we don’t get that opportunity but now after the BCCI has taken over, women’s state camps are being held in good grounds. Since most of the teams have young players it will be ideal to concentrate on fielding at that stage so they are ready and trained by the time they mature.

	‘I know that my game really improved after playing a summer of cricket in England’ © ICC

I can’t believe we are already in June and the first ball of the ICC Women’s World Cup is only nine months away. We have recently completed our first training camp and it was great to be back together as a team for the first time since winning the World Cup qualifier in Stellenbosch in February.

There was a great spirit among the team and there was a lot of focus not just on our upcoming tour of England, where all the girls can’t wait for the opportunity to play at Lord’s for the first time, but on how we can get the best out of the squad ahead of the two major ICC events next year.

These training camps are really important for us as there isn’t a huge opportunity to play national competitions in South Africa – one of the main challenges is that as the country is so big and the players aren’t full-time, which makes travelling to matches a real issue.

So while we do have a regular 50-over competition, which will serve as our main domestic warm-up to the ICC Women’s World Cup, we do suffer from not playing as much cricket as other countries.

There are also plans to introduce a new domestic competition for Twenty20 cricket, based on the Super Fours model in England. This is a really positive step and yet another sign of support from Cricket South Africa, who have been great to the team since they took over the running of the women’s game a few years ago.

We are lucky to have a very talented squad of players, who, if they offer everything that they did to be at the Women’s World Cup Qualifier, have a chance of competing with the very best.

Not many of my squad have had the opportunity to play in English conditions before, so this will be a great learning experience. The performances of Olivia Anderson in Stellenbosch earlier in the year, after spending a summer in Ireland, are testament to the improvements it can make to an individual’s game.

I know that my game really improved after playing a summer of cricket in England, where I was lucky enough to play alongside Charlotte Edwards, so I hope that we can all use the experience wisely.

The lifestyle challenges of playing women’s cricket for your country, knowing that you have to fit in training around work, mean that there is a chance you may lose some of your most talented players. It was a big blow for us when Johmari Logtenberg retired, especially after all the time and effort we had spent on her development and the promise she had shown at such a young age.

To protect our side against losing quality players, we need to improve the strength and depth in our squad, which hopefully the new domestic Twenty20 competition will help provide, as well as increase the number of people playing at a grass-roots level.

South Africa is a proud sporting country so we know one of the ways we can increase our profile is by winning – we get far more coverage at home as a result of winning the Women’s World Cup Qualifier than we ever did before.

So that is why all the squad are determined to put in as much hard work as possible to ensure we can benefit from being in the spotlight at the World Cup and the World Twenty20 next year and take women’s cricket in South Africa from strength to strength.