Quotes from Isa Guha

T20 is fast-paced and a wonderful vehicle to attract wider audience. On a technical level, it probably has impacted Test cricket.

It is important for big names such as Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri to get on board and recognise that women do actually understand the game and they can play as well.

When we won the 2009 World Cup in Australia, we flew economy, shared hotel rooms and had a 10:45 P.M. curfew.

Back in 2005, we lost in the semi-final of the World Cup and that was a great learning curve for the team. It gave us a goal and even more of a hunger to win the World Cup, so we went away and set ourselves a long-term plan to do it.

I went through a phase after we won the World Cup of 'what am I going to do with my life.'

My brother was playing hockey, tennis, badminton... I basically copied everything he did.

A level of negativity around women working in men's sport is still present in the U.K., but I keep reminding myself that I'm there to do a job and add a different perspective.

IPL is a T20 franchise tournament combining cricket and Bollywood to offer entertainment.

With tournaments such as the Women's Big Bash and the Kia Super League, women are now well practised in the art of big strokeplay.

You want to get both sides of the story and it's my role to try and bring that out of people.

Playing cricket has given me an excellent opportunity to get fit and healthy, meet people of similar interests, integrate with people of different backgrounds and see the world.

I'd like to thank my family and friends for their continual support over the years and to all those involved in helping me develop as a cricketer of which there are too many to mention.

Many England girls have grown up playing men's cricket and trained in county men's academies, so they've faced 70-80 mph bowling. So when it comes to the women's game you have a 75mph bowler who's not as tall and not getting as much bounce, you feel more assured.

Cricket is a sport girls can play and be successful in irrespective of their background.

To people who don't take women's cricket seriously, I'd say: just watch a game first, and then make your judgement.

It's not that there has never been a keen following for women's cricket in India.

I remember my England debut, in 2002. It came in Jersey, in a triangular tournament with New Zealand and India. To say that it did not generate great local interest is putting it mildly: our first game, against India, attracted a handful of spectators.

It's definitely good to play out of my comfort zone, especially in the Sydney Premier League which is one of the toughest leagues in the world.

As an athlete there are times in your career where, during a game, any decision you make seems to be the right one. The bowler bowls where you want, you don't have to think and you are so 'in the zone' that you are not aware of anything else around you.

England Women regularly play against Under-15 and U-17 county men's sides, which is great for the girls to take them out of their comfort zones. It's important to find a balance, though, because the way in which women's cricket is played is still very different.

I made my England debut when I was 17, against India. I was the first Asian to play for the England women's team, and I did have mixed feelings playing against the country my parents are from but I was born and bred in England and I've always known I wanted to play for my country.

Jess Ennis, Chrissie Ohuruogu, Vicky Pendleton and Laura Trott, to name a few, have acted as female role models in England.

I think T20 cricket has become the flagship spectacle for women's cricket.

Just having the support from the male players is important as the women's game moves forward.