England Women's seamer Kate Cross on why she's taking credit for Lauren Winfield's century against Pakistan and new captain Heather Knight's coin faux pas...
It seems a long time ago that Robbo (Mark Robinson) sat us down at the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough and spoke about the importance of the next eight weeks: aka our preseason.
Blood, sweat and tears we sensed. And we were right. It has been a challenging time for us all due to a lot of changes, let alone the tough fitness sessions, but it has been a period which has genuinely seen us grow as a team. This week saw us do what we love and take to the field for the first time in this new era of England women's cricket.
And, of course, it rained!
Our first ODI against Pakistan was due to be played in Leicester on Monday, but unfortunately due to the weather we had to wait until the following day to get the game on.
Frustrating. Although as the rain poured, we got to hear the first live version of our new anthem, "Heroes", sang beautifully by Laura Wright, which gave us all goosebumps. Not a totally wasted day.
Captain Fantastic
Life as England captain for Heather Knight started off a little rockier than people will know… apparently she strode to the wicket to do her first toss expecting the coin to be provided. Not the best start Trev! "Has anyone got a 10p to lend to the new England captain?!"
Not only that but the day saw Nunny (Katherine Brunt) get herself to the unbelievable achievement of taking 100 ODI wickets in an England shirt. The photo below just sums up the passion that this girl plays her cricket with and we couldn't have been more pleased for her.
I don't think I have met anyone who trains as hard as her or who wears her heart more proudly on her sleeve. It is testament to Katherine and her hard work that she has overcome two serious back operations to continue her career and reach this landmark. She really is a role model for a lot of people, including people in the squad. Let's hear it for Katho!
Record Breakers
Finishing the first ODI with a win made the drive to Worcester slightly better, especially with such a quick turnaround and playing the second ODI the following day. We lost the toss and were stuck in to bat. Cue one of the best batting performances I have ever seen.
I'm not sure where to start really. An early call from Robbo in the dressing room was "if Lauren Winfield gets through the first ball, she'll get a hundred."
Mark Robinson: head coach by day, psychic by night! Not only did both she and Tammy Beaumont go on to make their maiden ODI centuries, but they put on a first-wicket stand of 235. Unreal scenes.
I couldn't be more chuffed for both of them, when you see all the hard work that everyone puts in behind the scenes, it makes their successes even more special.
I'm putting Lauren's first ton down to her new-found hairdresser. I'm pretty sure that the true test of trust in any friendship is allowing someone to cut your hair. Moose (Lauren) handed me the heavy responsibility, and the scissors and asked me to tidy her up.
Typical Yorkshire lass, keeping those purse strings nice and tight. Nervous wasn't the word, but I watched a tutorial online so what could possibly go wrong?
Back to cricket… the platform Lauren and Tammy set then allowed Natalie Sciver to come in and play an innings which, looking back, was just absurd! She absolutely belted it, scoring 80 from 33 balls.
And before everyone comments on the boundary sizes, let me just tell you that she hit some sixes which would have easily cleared the ropes on a men's size boundary.
It was some of the best striking of a cricket ball I have ever seen. To top it off she got the quickest fifty ever in women's cricket in just 22 balls. Bosh, bosh, bosh! It was that impressive that the England captain and Nat had a little moment together. How romantic. #grillkiss
Two more records were broken on Wednesday: we hit the most amount of sixes in an innings by any team (11) and we scored our highest ever total (378). What a day!
To top it, the ECB had invited our family and friends for the day to watch the game so we got to share the success with our nearest and dearest. For me, it was the first time all my family had been to watch the same game which was even more special.
Series Win
That currently means we are 2-0 up with the final ODI to play on Monday in Taunton. These points are crucial to our qualification for the ICC World Cup next summer so we will be looking to back up the first two performances with a third win and maybe find some more records to break, who knows!
Watch England Women's third ODI against Pakistan Women from 10.25am, Monday, Sky Sports 2.