Benji Mooorehead - The Cricketers Whos Who 2020

By Katherine Brunt Its a pleasure to write the foreword for The Cricketers Whos Who, but sad to be doing so in such troubling times. I hope above all that this finds you and your family safe, and that you manage to get through the difficult months ahead. The cricket season will certainly be affected, and the thought of not playing is very strange indeed. But Im sure some day soon well all be back on the field having fun. It was only a few weeks ago that I was playing for England in the T20 World Cup in Australia. Unfortunately we werent able to win that tournament we had a bad stroke of luck with the weather but its still brilliant to be able to say that the England womens and mens team are the current 50-over World Cup holders.

Its awesome to share that title with the men and put England at the top of the leaderboard in terms of ODI cricket. Much has changed in the last decade of womens cricket. A lot of countries are catching up with the likes of us and Australia really quickly, and theyre also getting more support now, which I think is fantastic for womens cricket. But Australia have been dominant recently. They seem to have a lot of players in their prime. Its more difficult for us because weve had a lot of retirements of late.

In fact since we won the 2017 World Cup in England theres been a lot of change and thats what were trying to deal with at the moment. Lisa Keightley taking over as our head coach earlier this year was good timing because the side was changing. Shes taken to it like a duck to water. Lisa has coached in England before and saw a lot of the girls grow up when she was head coach of England Womens Academy. Shes all about creating confidence and letting people lead in their own way. Were all really happy to have her.

I dont think my role in the team will change that much. For several years now Ive felt like one of the leaders or grandmas! As a player my role might change, because you cant just stand still. Youve got to keep evolving or else someone else will overtake you. Im still really enjoying it and as long as thats the case Ill keep going. The Hundred will be a big change for us. Womens domestic cricket was not in a great way a few years back.

No one knew about it, you didnt get paid to play it you paid your own way and bought your own kit. It had to change. The T20 Kia Super League was great, but I think it was always only an introduction to something bigger. Id say The Hundred will benefit the women most because its giving us the opportunity to play alongside the men the same kit, same venues, same team names. It makes us feel part of something bigger. And its been really important that it has attracted all the best players in the world the Kia Super League didnt always do that.

Its certainly the start of another shift forward for womens cricket. So I welcome the new format, even though I am a traditionalist who loves Test cricket. As well as keeping people in love with the game we also need people to fall in love with the game. This is also an exciting time for me outside of cricket. Last October me and my England teammate Nat Sciver announced our engagement on National Coming Out Day. The public reaction was brilliant.

I actually expected a lot of negativity because thats the impression Ive had over the years of how people see these things. But for the reaction to have been 99.99% positive has made me feel really great about it. The teams that I have played in have always been very supportive and have never given me any reason to believe that if I wanted to say something, or be something, that that wouldnt be ok. It was easy to be myself around the team but a lot harder to be myself in the wider world. But you shouldnt have to live your life behind closed doors because you are ashamed of who you are. Putting ourselves out there has actually shown us how good people can be.

Theres a lot of bad stuff in the world right now why not send a bit of positivity out there? Weve not really had time to celebrate or plan so far. The wedding is due to be two days after the last England game of the summer so its going to get pretty stressful. But no wedding planner needed Im a Yorkshire lass and my dad was a miner so Im as tight as they come! Anything I can do myself Ill do! Whatever the summer brings, I wish you all the best. Katherine Brunt March 2020

By Benj Moorehead This was supposed to be the season after the season before. (By the barest of all margins! Absolute ecstasy for England. (You guessed it, The Hundred.) But right now it would be wonderful, just wonderful, to have any season at all. (You guessed it, The Hundred.) But right now it would be wonderful, just wonderful, to have any season at all.

As I write the sporting world is in lockdown, along with well over 100 million people worldwide, and the thought of some white-cladded figures strolling out to the sound of pitter-patter clapping at Fenners, Hove, Worcester wherever anytime soon seems like a distant dream. But let us dream The Hundred is due to launch this year. At last. Not because we all welcome it, but because its arrival might curb the rankling that has proliferated since the competition was announced nearly two years ago, particularly on social media. At times it has felt like crickets Brexit, with trenches being dug so deep that all perspective is lost. In the Comment section we have attempted, with some success I believe, to have a balanced debate about The Hundred, featuring seven different stakeholders, from its brainchild Tom Harrison via Bumble through to the founder of the pressure group Oppose The Hundred.

A personal view from someone who is largely underwhelmed by abbreviated cricket is that The Hundred will be a success: it has attracted the superstars, it will likely draw the crowds, and it will be distinct from other global franchise tournaments. It seems to have the support of the players, to judge from their response to our question in the survey they all received about what excites them about The Hundred. True, some left the field blank, perhaps diplomatically, while a few said they most look forward to the free crisps (KP Snacks are the main sponsors). But the majority are looking forward to having new teammates, to be playing with and against the best, and to be working with world-class coaches. And we are not talking exclusively about the younger generation. Consider Wayne Madsen for instance, a superb batsman for Derbyshire for more than a decade now but someone who has never played international cricket and only rarely experienced a big-game atmosphere.

What excites him about The Hundred? Playing at Old Trafford in front of a full house for the Manchester Originals! You bet. For the women it is even more significant, for they will be playing in double-headers with mens fixtures at the big grounds in front of large crowds. Nevertheless, the arrival of the new format does raise a number of questions. Should we still view the T20 Blast as a tournament in its own right, or will it inevitably become the tame little brother? How about the One-Day Cup, due to take place in the shadow of The Hundred sub-standard fare for second-raters or, as Middlesex coach Stuart Law puts it on page 11, an opportunity for us to grow a great young team, and a competition where they can really stamp their authority? Will the fact that the best short-format players wont be playing 50-over cricket harm Englands chances of winning another World Cup? The women wont be playing any T20 cricket whatsoever. And what of the County Championship which, year after year, provides gripping narrative? Well, its still there, a remarkable achievement in itself given how out of step it is with modern entertainment. In fact one of the best things about the four-day game is that it runs counter to the neon noise of modern sport, a blessed sedative whose survival we should cherish.