Their defeat marked their second loss in two consecutive T20 World Cups after losing to Australia by 19 runs in the 2023 final.

The Proteas will host England for an inbound tour consisting of three T20 matches, three One Day Internationals, and a one-off Test match. The first T20 match will get underway at Buffalo Park in East London on Sunday (14:00 start SA Time).

England beat South Africa by seven wickets the last time they met at the Sharjah Cricket Ground in the United Arab Emirates in the group stages of the global showpiece.

The former champions would later be upset by a six-wicket loss at the hands of the West Indies, failing to progress to the semi-finals for the first time since 2010.

In preparation, South Africa were in a pre-tour camp in Pretoria before they made the trip to East London for the first T20I on Sunday.

All-rounder Dercksen told Sportsboom.com that she believes both teams will have a lot of areas they will want to correct, but she expects England to be on the front foot in an attempt to correct their shortfalls at the tournament.

“The mood in the camp is quite positive; the girls haven’t seen each other in a while, some of us have played some provincial cricket, and we are just overall excited to see each other and to get going with the series as the team again.”

“Our last encounter with them at the World Cup was a bit closer than they would have wanted; we know we didn’t play our best game that day, but it will all stay in the past, and we will all start on zero again, and we are eager to get going with the series.”

“The expectation is that they will try to put their best foot forward in the series; obviously they didn’t have the World Cup that they wanted or anticipated to have, so I think just like us, they would have gone back to the drawing board.”

“They will have a lot of things they want to improve on. It will be a great contest, and we know they will bring their A-game.”

Both sides last clashed in a bilateral T20 series in July 2022; England were the hosts then, and they came out on top with a 3-0 win. South Africa, on the other hand, outside reaching the two finals, has had its fair share of struggles in this format.

Since the 2023 World Cup, they have played a total of seven series, and they have only managed to achieve a win percentage of 30.4%. In the 23 matches they have played, they have only managed to win seven, with five no results and eleven losses.

The 2-1 series win against Pakistan prior to the World Cup did however hand them a lot of momentum, and Dercksen hopes they will be able to carry the same momentum heading into this series, and they can use it to begin the road to the next World Cup in two years’ time.

“We would like to win the series; England is a quality opponent, and it’s going to be a good contest, and we would be looking to win it.”

“It will be our first time playing back home since the conclusion of the World Cup, and the team would definitely like to continue that momentum from the tournament into the series.”

“It has been wonderful for us to compete with the top sides in the world; the environment we have at the moment, the players, support staff, and coaches we have are all driven and very high performance focused.

“It is just a lovely environment to be a part of, and hopefully we continue building and we can bring the World Cup back home.”

With thanks to https://www.sportsboom.com/cricket/

Thirty-seven teams from across the three tiers of the women’s domestic structure will enter the knock-out competition, with the Tier 1 teams entering at Round Three.

The knock-out nature of the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup will give Counties in Tier 2 and Tier 3 the chance to pull off a giant-killing against fully professional Tier 1 sides, and today’s draw offers potentially intriguing routes to Finals Day for a number of teams.

Two all Tier 1 ties in Round Three means the competition will be guaranteed at least two teams from Tiers 2 or 3 in the quarter-finals.

It’s the first time the Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup will be competed for, in what is the first year of a revamped women’s domestic game structure.

The competition will take place across May, utilising Bank Holidays at the beginning and end of the month, and will signal the first domestic silverware of 2025.

ROUND ONE (Ties to be played Monday 5 May)

Match 1: Lincolnshire v Cheshire

Match 2: Staffordshire v Cumbria

Match 3: Northumberland – BYE

Match 4: Yorkshire v Derbyshire Falcons

Match 5: Leicestershire Foxes – BYE

Match 6: Shropshire v Norfolk

Match 7: Cambridgeshire v Herefordshire

Match 8: Northamptonshire Steelbacks v Worcestershire Rapids

Match 9: Sussex Sharks v Buckinghamshire

Match 10: Suffolk – BYE

Match 11: Hertfordshire v Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire

Match 12: Middlesex v Kent

Match 13: Cornwall v Berkshire

Match 14: Wiltshire v Oxfordshire

Match 15: Dorset v Devon

Match 16: Glamorgan v Gloucestershire

ROUND TWO (Ties to play Saturday 10 May)

Match 17: Yorkshire or Derbyshire Falcons v Staffordshire or Cumbria

Match 18: Leicestershire Foxes v Lincolnshire or Cheshire

Match 19: Shropshire or Norfolk v Northamptonshire Steelbacks or Worcestershire Rapids

Match 20: Northumberland v Cambridgeshire or Herefordshire

Match 21: Glamorgan or Gloucestershire v Sussex Sharks or Buckinghamshire

Match 22: Cornwall or Berkshire v Middlesex or Kent

Match 23: Wiltshire or Oxfordshire v Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire & Huntingdonshire

Match 24: Devon or Dorset v Suffolk

ROUND THREE (Ties to be played Saturday 17 May)

Match 25: Surrey v Hampshire Hawks

Match 26: Winner of Match 24 v Bears

Match 27: Winner of Match 19 v Winner of Match 18

Match 28: Winner of Match 21 v Lancashire Thunder

Match 29: Winner of Match 17 v Essex

Match 30: Winner of Match 23 v The Blaze

Match 31: Winner of Match 20 v Winner of Match 22

Match 32: Somerset v Durham

QUARTER-FINALS (Ties to be played Saturday 24 May)

Match 33: Winner of Match 25 v Winner of Match 32

Match 34: Winner of Match 31 v Winner of Match 30

Match 35: Winner of Match 27 v Winner of Match 28

Match 36: Winner of Match 29 v Winner of Match 26

FINALS DAY (Monday 26 May, The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton)

Match 37: Semi-Final 1: Winner of Match 35 v Winner of Match 34

Match 38: Semi-Final 2: Winner of Match 36 v Winner of Match 33

Match 39: Vitality T20 Women’s County Cup Final

The semi-finals and final will be played as a three-match Finals Day, with the two semi-finals preceding the final, at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, on Monday 26 May.

The fixtures for the Vitality Blast men’s competition, Vitality Blast women’s competition and Vitality Blast Women’s League 2 will be unveiled tomorrow.

With thanks to the ECB

Kerr took two for 13 with the ball as Sri Lanka set the White Ferns 115 to win, before she produced a crucial 34 from 31 balls to guide her side home.

Georgia Plimmer’s impressive half century proved a perfect platform for New Zealand to secure victory, and Kerr combined with captain Sophie Devine to get them over the line and keep her side’s semi-final hopes alive.

Sri Lanka began their innings brightly, with openers Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu both finding the boundary in the early overs and taking advantage of some loose New Zealand bowling.

But the White Ferns found a crucial early breakthrough in the fourth over as Eden Carson bowled Gunaratne for eight.

Captain Athapaththu combined well with new batter Harshitha Samarawickrama to steady the Sri Lankan ship, with the pair sharing a 48-run stand to build a strong platform for their side.

Athapaththu led the way with 35 off 41 runs until spinner Kerr claimed her first wicket of the afternoon to bowl the Sri Lanka skipper.

That proved a key intervention with Sri Lanka 74 for two, as Samarawickrama fell just five balls later for 18 as she could only chip to extra cover following a superb ball from Leigh Kasperek.

Sri Lanka looked to respond in the final five overs, Kavisha Dilhari producing an impressive Dil-scoop to try and drive up her side’s run rate.

But the White Ferns kept finding wickets at key times, Anushka Sanjeewani (5) became Kasperek’s second victim of the tournament as she looked to hit down the ground but could only find the hands of Devine.

Kerr then struck again for her second wicket of the match, trapping Dilhari (10) leg before as she tried to sweep for the boundary.

That left Sri Lanka reduced to 97 for five but Nilakshika Silva (14 not out) and Ama Kanchana (10 not out) dug in to steer their side home to 115, their highest score of the tournament.

New Zealand were forced to ease their way into their chase, but soon picked up a fast pace through opener Plimmer.

After a slow opening four overs negotiating the Sri Lankan spin attack, the right-hander opened up with boundaries from the first ball of back-to-back overs before she and Suzie Bates both crashed a boundary each in the seventh over to leave the White Ferns 48 without loss.

With New Zealand appearing to get on top of the contest, Sri Lanka then broke the opening partnership when Sachini Nisansala clean bowled Bates for 17.

It was almost a second wicket in quick succession, but Inoshi Priyadharshani was unable to hold onto a shot from Plimmer at short range off her own bowling.

Kerr quickly settled into her innings with the bat, crunching a cover drive for four off just her second ball as New Zealand looked to regain their momentum.

That is exactly what they did, as Kerr and Plimmer combined to comfortably guide their side towards the 100 mark and in sight of victory.

Plimmer notched up an impressive half century before Athapaththu finally got the wicket they needed to dismiss the opener for 53 off 44 balls.

Kerr immediately took up the mantle to drive the White Ferns past 100 with another boundary through point.

Her knock of 34 from 31 balls proved enough for victory in conjunction with captain Devine, who sealed victory with 15 balls to spare via a crunching six.

Scores in brief

Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Sharjah International Stadium, Sharjah.

Sri Lanka 115/5 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 35, Harshitha Samarawickrama 18; Amelia Kerr 2/13, Leigh Kasperek 2/27)

New Zealand 118/2 in 17.3 overs (Georgia Plimmer 53, Amelia Kerr 34; Chamari Athapaththu 1/8, Sachini Nisansala 1/24)

Result: New Zealand win by eight wickets

With thanks to the ICC

This year, the ICC took a unique approach to the captains’ photo by inviting each captain to individually showcase their excitement for the tournament set against the striking backdrop of the Dubai Frame, a symbol of the UAE’s landscape. The setting, which blends the Emirate’s iconic modern architecture with its desert heritage, reflects the cultural diversity of this edition’s World Cup.

The image was taken by Dubai-based Tina Patni, a well-known luxury fashion, beauty, and editorial photographer, recognized for her work with celebrities and has earned her international recognition for her unique style and expertise in the industry.

A special panel session featuring all 10 captains took place during the Captains’ Day, hosted by Melanie Jones, which showed fans a glimpse into the life, strategies and aspirations of the captains.

Australia Captain Alyssa Healy: “There are 10 teams sitting on the stage here today that deserve to be here and have a real shot of winning this World Cup. You don’t come here to defend a title, that’s not what a World Cup is about, you come here to win it, so we’re here with that approach and I’m excited to get underway.

“Our pool is quite a tricky one. We’ve got to get past a lot of these teams to be able to lift the trophy and it’s a challenge we’re excited for.”

West Indies Captain Hayley Matthews: “You play all year long preparing and this is obviously the pinnacle of where you want to be as a team and where you want to be competing.

“Every series you play, every training session you have is towards that goal of a World Cup, so [preparation] definitely is a long process, and I think one as a West Indies team we’ve had in our sights for a very long time. So yeah, just hoping for some success.”

Bangladesh Captain Nigar Sultana: “Yeah, [shifting the event from Bangladesh] was pretty disappointing initially. But the thing is we’re very professional. Now we are here and we are going to play this and we are pretty fortunate that we will do something that is going to help all the fans and the families and friends to get cheered.

“I’m expecting a lot of spectators, because in Sharjah there are a lot of Bangladeshis there. And playing in this kind of event, I think more people will come watch us and support.”

Scotland Captain Kathryn Bryce: “Yeah, I think we just really want to compete in this competition. We’ve played some fantastic cricket in the qualifiers and leading up to it, so I think, we just want to go out there and do ourselves justice on that stage and put in some good performances against these teams.”

India Captain Harmanpreet Kaur: “I think that is something we keep learning every day. Because when you win, sometimes you feel, OK, that is something I have achieved. But at the same time, next day when you go, you may make small mistakes. And I think that is part of the game. And I think learning is something which is never going to stop, every day is a learning day. Every day I’m going and learning and getting experience from every game. Yeah, I think people around me, they are helping me, they are working hard to make our team go at that level where we want to be. I am happy with where our team is, like how our team is working hard to achieve small, small things.”

England Captain Heather Knight: “I think captaincy is always a constant challenge. I don’t think you need that freshness as a captain. You’ve always been challenged in different ways and trying to learn little tricks and trying to grow in everything you do. But I think as you’re there more, you learn to get your messages across in slightly different ways using the people around you. I’ve got through a few coaches as well, so that kind of helps freshen things up. And obviously, the team’s constantly evolving, which is a place where you’re obviously keeping things fresh and finding different ways to say things.”

Pakistan captain, Fatima Sana: “I will try to enjoy myself, express myself and back myself as well (as captain). Actually, our whole management is supporting me, and they told me that you just take a brave decision on the field, so just try to do this, be calm and just do whatever you want.”

New Zealand Captain Sophie Devine: “I think that’s been the great thing about the women’s game is the development and it’s what’s happened off the field I think that’s helped achieve that. In terms of the quick bowlers you’ve seen the girls become more professional and what they’ve been able to do in the gym is starting to see bowlers hitting 120kms and more which it makes for a challenge. It’s always exciting to be coming up against that but I think it just shows the development of the women’s game that those sorts of skills continue to improve.

“We’ve got a number of young fast bowlers coming through. And again, their development has been massive the last 12 – 18 months so certainly looking forward to seeing what sort of bowlers they can turn into.”

South Africa Captain Laura Wolvaardt: “I think obviously last year was great, but we’re just looking to take it one game at a time. Obviously a very difficult pool, but hopefully we can make semi-finals and then anything can happen from that.

“It’s obviously a bit different now. I think most players who have played in the team have never played under anyone besides Hilton (Mooreng). But Dillon (du Preez), who’s taken over, has been with us for four or five years. So, he still knowshow things were and where we’re headed. And we’ve actually got a batting coach and a fielding coach now this season for the first time officially as well, so everything just feels really well organized at the moment. It’s been great just getting a lot of information from a lot of different coaches, even just to have the extra hands at training and to have specific groups doing specific things has been awesome. We’re looking forward to this tournament.”

Sri Lanka captain, Chamari Athapaththu: “We are coming with underdog tag all the time. So, we don’t have any pressure. I don’t want to take too much pressure on my shoulders and my teammates’ shoulders. But we keep it simple. I have a very young team, so we have a few seniors as well. I hope we can continue our best performance, because we’ve been playing really good cricket the last 16 months. This is a different format and different conditions, so we have to start again, fresh days. So, keep it simple, one ball one time, one game one time.”

The World Cup which will see 23 matches held over 18 days in the two host cities of Dubai and Sharjah, promises to entertain and inspire a new generation of cricket fans while serving as a transformative platform for women’s cricket.

The opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will take place in Sharjah, with hosts Bangladesh, facing Scotland at 14h00, followed by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, fans can purchase tickets online or directly at the stadiums, for more information on where to buy click here.

Beth Mooney grabbed a half-century as Australia came out on top in Dubai, a good sign as they look to make it four consecutive titles in this tournament.

Elsewhere, New Zealand laid down a marker with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over South Africa, Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr starring with the ball to set up the win.

And in the final warm-up match of the day, India withstood a West Indies fightback to earn a 20-run victory.

Champs hit the ground running

Australia delivered a strong first outing in the UAE as they warmed up for the defence of their crown.

Having been put into bat, the Australians made 162/6 from their 20 overs with Beth Mooney giving them the perfect start. She needed just 30 balls to crack a half-century, helping set the platform despite Alyssa Healy (12) and Ellyse Perry (7) not firing.

A partnership of 50 with Ashleigh Gardner (21) was broken by Charlie Dean (1/16) but Tahlia McGrath (31) and Georgia Wareham (18 not out) both scored quickly to push Australia to a more than competitive total.

Lauren Bell was the pick of the England bowlers, taking two for 29, including Healy early.

England showed plenty of intent in their chase, Maia Bouchier hitting a quickfire 17 before she was the first to depart, caught behind off Darcie Brown.

That brought Alice Capsey to the crease, and she impressed on her way to 40 from just 34 balls.

She did not get a huge amount of support however, with wickets falling at regular intervals, McGrath grabbing three of them including the all-important Nat Sciver-Brunt on her way to figures of three for 18.

Spin twins set up Kiwi success

Three wickets apiece for Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr had South Africa in all sorts of trouble as New Zealand won by eight wickets against last year’s World Cup runners-up.

Eden Carson made the early inroads as South Africa were bowled out for just 92, although they did play out their full 20 overs.

Carson removed Tamzin Brits with just the second ball and ended up with figures of two for 21 from her four overs.

Laura Wolvaardt provided the only real resistance, scoring 33 before she became the first of Kasperek’s (3/7) three victims.

From the other end, Kerr (3/13) was just as accurate, as the pair combined for eight overs, six wickets and just 20 runs conceded.

The chase was a formality for New Zealand, with Suzie Bates run out for 17 before Kerr and skipper Sophie Devine added 36 for the second wicket.

While Kerr eventually departed for a run-a-ball 37, Devine finished unbeaten on 35 as she and Brooke Halliday saw New Zealand home.

India too strong for the Windies

A strong all-round showing from India saw them earn a 20-run victory over the West Indies.

Having lost the toss and been put in to bat, the Indians found themselves in trouble when Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana all fell early.

Hayley Matthews took two of those wickets, on her way to figures of four for 17, leaving India at 23 for three.

But Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia (24) responded by putting on 50 runs before Matthews removed Bhatia.

Rodrigues continued to provide the foundation, eventually falling for 52 when she was run out, as India ended up making 141 for eight.

The Windies then endured an even worse start than India, slipping to 13 for three, including a five-ball duck for Matthews.

They responded through Shemaine Campbelle (20) and Chinelle Henry (59 not out), who put on 57 for the fourth wicket.

But once Campbelle had departed, Deepti Sharma (2/11) stepped up with two wickets in an over and the Windies ended up on 121 for eight, 20 runs short.

Scores in brief

Australia v England – ICC Academy, Dubai, The United Arab Emirates

Australia 162/6 in 20 overs (Beth Mooney 50, Tahlia McGrath 31; Lauren Bell 2/29, Charlie Dean 1/16)

England 129 all out in 19.4 overs (Alice Capsey 40; Tahlia McGrath 3/18, Sophie Molineux 2/27)

Result: Australia won by 33 runs

New Zealand v South Africa – The Sevens Stadium, Dubai, The United Arab Emirates

South Africa 92 all out in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 33; Leigh Kasperek 3/7, Amelia Kerr 3/13)

New Zealand 95/2 in 14.2 overs (Amelia Kerr 37, Sophie Devine 35 not out; Seshnie Naidu 1/12)

Result: New Zealand won by eight wickets

India v West Indies – ICC Academy 2, Dubai, The United Arab Emirates

India 141/8 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 52, Yastika Bhatia 24; Hayley Matthews 4/17, Chinelle Henry 1/11)

West Indies 121/8 in 20 overs (Chinelle Henry 59 not out, Afy Fletcher 21; Pooja Vastrakar 3/20, Deepti Sharma 2/11)

Result: India won by 20 runs

With thanks to the ICC

With the ten teams evenly split into two groups, a fiercely competitive Group A contains five of the top eight teams in the Women’s T20I Team Rankings.

Here is a breakdown of the nations who will fight it out to make the top two and seal progression to the semi-finals.

Australia

The greatest dynasty in the history of the women’s game rolls into another tournament as the top-ranked side.

Australia will aim to lift the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup trophy for the fourth time in succession and at ICC global events, they have won each of their last 20 games.

This time they will be skippered by Alyssa Healy after Meg Lanning’s retirement last year, with the keeper-batter also their heaviest T20I run-scorer with 440 in the past 12 months.

A series defeat to England and losses to South Africa and West Indies put the world on notice – Shelley Nitschke’s side will have an almighty target on their backs in UAE.

India

India has a strong recent record at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, having reached at least the semi-finals in 2018, 2020 and 2023.

Their hopes of going one better and winning it for the first time will rely heavily on the powerful opening partnership of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.

The momentum behind women’s cricket in India continues to grow and with a talented spin attack, the national team have all of the tools to excel in the UAE conditions.

A surprise defeat to Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup will make their Group A clash compelling viewing, as well as their highly-anticipated tussle with Australia, to whom they lost in the final back in 2020.

New Zealand

Ranked fourth in the Women’s T20I Team Rankings, New Zealand will be motivated to prove that they remain one of the top sides in the world.

Despite registering two wins on each occasion, the White Ferns have not reached the knockout stages of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup since 2016.

They have lost their last 10 T20I matches too, albeit those defeats have come in tough assignments against England and Australia.

To turn things around they will look to experienced hands in captain Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, both playing at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup for the ninth time.

Pakistan

Pakistan will aim to fight fire with fire in Group A as they seek to make the knockout stages of this tournament for the first time.

With 22-year-old Fatima Sana now leading the side, their squad contains an interesting blend of youth and experience which should make hay on spin-friendly surfaces.

Traditionally cautious in the powerplay, Pakistan recently posted their highest-ever T20I total of 181 runs against South Africa and have loosened the shackles on their top-order batters.

With experienced hands like Nida Dar, Diana Baig and Muneeba Ali steering the ship, they will hope to pull off a few upsets.

Sri Lanka

Seventh in the Women’s T20I Team Rankings, Sri Lanka will hope to showcase their recent improvements on the biggest stage of them all.

Chamari Athapaththu’s side arrive in UAE full of confidence having won the Asia Cup for the first time, beating India in the final thanks to a superb 69 from in-form batter Harshitha Samarawickrama.

Since the last ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, they have also beaten New Zealand, England and South Africa for the first time.

All of this means hopes will be high that they can compete for wins and potentially emerge from the group stages for the first time in their ninth appearance at the event.

With thanks to the ICC

While Australia may currently be the women’s game’s pre-eminent force, there is a feeling of the sport becoming more open, with nations outside of the traditional powers starting to emerge.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup itself has grown; a fact made clear in that just eight teams contested the first competition in England in 2009. The tournament was held simultaneously with the men’s competition and the form of the hosts captivated a nation.

This culminated in over 12,000 attending the final at Lord’s where Charlotte Edwards’ side defeated New Zealand by six wickets to become the inaugural champions. The triumph pushed England women into the spotlight, with the same being said of Australia when they claimed the title in 2010, and how they have run with it since.

Their margin of victory over New Zealand at the Kensington Oval might have been slim (three runs), but it kicked off an era of dominance that continues to this day. Australian players such as Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning became prized commodities off the back of the exploits at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, with teams all over the world bidding for their services.

Lanning was the top run scorer in the 2014 tournament in Bangladesh, the first in which 10 teams took part, as her country claimed their third consecutive title.

There was a new name on the trophy however, when the competition moved to India in 2016 as the West Indies crowned their emergence as a leading nation by dethroning the Australians at Eden Gardens.

It was the first women’s final to take place on the same day as the men’s and it set the tone, with the Windies’ men going on to memorably defeat England, making the men and women from the Caribbean double world champions.

The holders then hosted in 2018 as Australia reclaimed the trophy that year and they have not relinquished it since. Indeed, it was when they hosted in 2020 that the competition truly was taken to new heights. This was capped by the extraordinary attendance of 86,174 at the MCG – a record for a women’s cricket match – that witnessed Australia’s victory over first-time finalists, India.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 turned out to be the largest global sporting event to take place for some time and it sticks in the memory for all the right reasons.

Its increased profile that year also brought rewards of the prize money for the winners of $1 million USD, five times more than what was awarded in 2018.

That is a figure that has continued to skyrocket, with the winners of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates set to take home $2.34 million.

Nine other countries will be taking on one of the toughest tasks in the sport, dethroning Australia, when the action gets under way on 3 October.

With household names among the challengers such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Smriti Mandhana (India) and Marizanne Kapp (South Africa) set to lead the challenge for their respective nations, we are set for the most explosive competition yet.

With thanks to the ICC

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup has been a great vehicle in getting the public behind the women’s game and the upcoming tournament is another great opportunity to showcase our sport.

The development of the women’s game has certainly been driven by the T20 format and any opportunity to represent your country at a World Cup is special.

Winning the trophy is certainly our goal. We want to be competitive in all the games that we play and have the ability to adapt to the conditions.

With a change in venue, it’s important for us that we make the best of those conditions. We’ve certainly been working hard in the last six to eight weeks since getting back from the UK on honing our skills.

We have been specific and clear with how we want to play and what we think is going to work in those conditions. We reflected and reviewed how we’d played and what we’d worked on previously and have had a real eye on what the conditions are like.

There’s been a real focus on spin bowling, which I’m sure everyone is going to focus on, but for us it’s about strike rate and scoring shot percentages. With the bat, we’re wanting to be really busy at the crease, we know that the conditions might be tough, so every run is going to be valuable. On the flip side, with the ball we want to be as accurate as possible. Staying on stumps and making opposition players play the most difficult shots; this has been a key focus for us.

We played there a while back in 2017, a series against Pakistan in Sharjah, so it’s going back a fair while. There hasn’t been too much cricket in the UAE so it will be a real challenge for all the teams around how they adapt, but we are excited to play there.

Obviously, the weather and the heat are going to be a real factor, but that was always going to be the case whether we were in Bangladesh or UAE.

One of my favourite past T20 World Cup moments was also in the subcontinent, in India in 2016 when we beat the Aussies. We had a fair bit of travel to get to the place we were playing but we just got on with it and had them in some early trouble before managing to get away with a pretty awesome win against a side that was flying pretty high. That’s certainly up there for me.

We will play Australia in the pool stage again this time around in what is a challenging pool. When you’ve got India and Australia, as well as Sri Lanka, it’s going to be a pretty tough pool to progress through, but we certainly love our chances coming up against those sorts of teams.

In one-off games and in World Cup cricket, everyone starts on zero, so we are really looking forward to the opportunity to play against world-class teams that will all be vying to be there come the end of the World Cup.

With thanks to the ICC

The tournament is set to get under way on 3 October when Bangladesh face Scotland at Sharjah Cricket Stadium and will run until the final at Dubai International Stadium on 20 October.

Here, we look at how each of them qualified for the tournament.

Bangladesh qualified as hosts before the competition was moved to the UAE, with this set to be the sixth time they have participated in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. They have yet to make it beyond the group stage.

Six teams qualified courtesy of their performances in the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.

Australia lifted the trophy for the sixth time as they continued their dominance with a 19-run victory over the hosts at Newlands Cricket Ground.

The Australians won all six of their matches in the tournament and have not lost a match in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup since being beaten by India in their opening group match in 2020.

For South Africa, it was their first ever final and they will be aiming to go one better when the competition comes to Sharjah and Dubai.

Inaugural champions in 2009, England, qualified after reaching the semi-finals in South Africa where they were beaten by the host nation.

Since lifting the trophy 15 years ago, the English have been beaten in the final on three occasions.

India were the other beaten semi-finalists, edged out by just five runs in a thriller against Australia in Cape Town, only just missing out on a second consecutive final.

West Indies, champions in 2016, were one of the teams to finish third in their group after they defeated Ireland and Pakistan in Group 2.

The third-placed team in Group 1 was New Zealand, finalists in 2009 and 2010, who qualified thanks to comprehensive victories over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Pakistan qualified through being the next highest ranked side in the ICC Women’s T20I Team Rankings at the end of February 2023. They have yet to reach the semi-finals.

Two teams booked their place through the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in May.

That includes Sri Lanka, who claimed a stunning win over host South Africa in the opening game of the tournament in 2023 only to eventually finish fourth in Group 1 via net run-rate.

Sri Lanka won all four of their Group A matches in the Qualifier before sealing their spot with a 15-run victory over hosts the UAE at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Scotland are the only team making their debut in the competition and they had to coming through the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in 2023, facing the Netherlands, Italy and France.

They won five of their six matches to reach the global Qualifier, where they finished second, behind Sri Lanka, in Group A before making history by defeating Group B winners Ireland by 54 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium.

With thanks to the ICC

Wicketkeeper-batter Bess Heath and all-rounder Freya Kemp are selected in a T20 World Cup squad for the first time as is Danielle Gibson who was a travelling reserve for the last edition in South Africa.

Bowler Sophie Ecclestone, the highest wicket taker in the 2023 T20 World Cup is named alongside fellow spinner Linsey Smith who returned to the England T20 squad earlier this year.

The squad will head to Abu Dhabi for a training camp (13-24 September) before the official ICC warm-up games.

They then face Bangladesh, South Africa, Scotland and West Indies in Group B across Sharjah and Dubai.

Fast bowler Lauren Filer will join the squad for the preparation camp in Abu Dhabi.

Head Coach Jon Lewis said: “Selecting teams and squads with this group of players has become incredibly tricky and tough. There are players who have been really unfortunate to miss out and they’ll be a big part of what we do with England Cricket in the future.

“I feel the 15 players selected give us a really well balanced squad in terms of experience, youth and most importantly the skills to cope and excel in the conditions we feel we will be faced with in the UAE.”

Captain Heather Knight added: “World Cups are always special events to be involved in as a player and I’m really excited by the squad we have selected to take over to the UAE.

“It’s an honour to lead the team into another World Cup. We’re looking forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

England Women squad for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup

Heather Knight (Western Storm) – Captain

Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers)

Maia Bouchier (Southern Vipers)

Alice Capsey (South East Stars)

Charlie Dean (Southern Vipers)

Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars)

Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder)

Danielle Gibson (Western Storm)

Sarah Glenn (The Blaze)

Bess Heath (Northern Diamonds)

Amy Jones (Central Sparks)

Freya Kemp (Southern Vipers)

Nat Sciver-Brunt (The Blaze)

Linsey Smith (Southern Vipers)

Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)

ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 schedule

Saturday 5 October, Bangladesh v England, Sharjah

Monday 7 October, England v South Africa, Sharjah

Sunday 13 October, England v Scotland, Sharjah

Tuesday 15 October, England v West Indies, Dubai

Thursday 17 October, Semi-final 1, Dubai

Friday 18 October, Semi-final 2, Sharjah

Sunday 20 October, Final, Dubai