From no cricket to men's cricket

Venues: Mumbai and Cuttack, IndiaDates: 31 January to 17 FebruaryCoverage: Ball-by-ball commentary on all of England's games and the final on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra & online; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & mobiles

Sarah Taylor is used to causing headlines for dabbling in men's cricket.

Formerly a pupil at Brighton College, her selection for the boys's first XI alongside now-England team-mate Holly Colvin raised the ire of then Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Robin Marlar.

"I think it's absolutely outrageous,"  said Marlar at the time. "If there's an 18-year-old who can bowl at 80mph and he's been brought up properly then he shouldn't want to hurt a lady at any cost."

Meet the England women's cricket team

Bar the odd dissenting voice - earlier this month, an anonymous Daily Telegraph writer took Marlar's line  that male pacers might not be too happy at being asked to bowl to Taylor - the reaction to her possible appearance for the Sussex men's second XI has been more positive.

The Telegraph's Tanya Aldred  hailed Taylor as "perhaps the greatest female cricketer England have ever had", former England seamer Mike Selvey  called the 23-year-old "the finest of all women cricketers" in the Guardian, while cricket journalist Lizzy Ammon  said the wicketkeeper-batter could be a "trailblazer".

A potential trailblazer indeed, but one who was almost lost to cricket entirely.

Having won the Ashes, World Cup and World Twenty20 by the age of 21, Taylor pondered what she had left to achieve in the game and decided in 2010 that a break was needed. She would not play for England again for almost a year.

"I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life," she told BBC Sport. "I decided to venture away, explore other avenues within my life to see if I wanted to stay in cricket or go elsewhere.

Eight teams - Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies - split in to two groups of four Group A - England, India, Sri Lanka and West Indies Group B - Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa Top three teams in each group take their points forward to the Super Six stage Each team in the Super Six meets the three other sides they are yet to play, with the top two moving on to the final "I went to New Zealand to visit family. I didn't want to touch a cricket ball, but over the Christmas I hit a point where I wanted to play.

"I got a call from Wellington - they said their captain was injured and they needed a batter. I jumped at the chance, turned back to England and they were brilliant."

That Taylor is now being touted for a possible move into the men's game says much for the positive impact the sabbatical did for her.

But she is also a beneficiary of an increasingly professional approach to women's cricket in England, with players able to devote more time to their sport thanks to contracts that see them employed as coaches in schools and clubs.

That luxury was not afforded to Taylor's England team-mate Arran Brindle, who herself took what turned out be a five-year break from international cricket in 2006.

Her decision was made when regular journeys from her home in Louth, Lincolnshire to training sessions in Loughborough became unmanageable - circumstances a world away from the environment that has allowed Taylor to move to the brink of a shot at the men's game.

"To fit in a training session was a minimum six-hour event," said Brindle. "To do that around work, having done it for three years, it felt like the right time to see what else was out there for me to do."

If Taylor can see similarities in their situations, Brindle's achievements in men's cricket could also be a source of inspiration.

Archive: Brindle hits historic century in men's game

As well as being the first woman to have scored a century in a men's Premier League club match, the 31-year-old is also the only female to have captained club side Louth - a team that included her husband, James.

"For a bunch of guys to approach a girl to captain the team for the first time was a massive honour," said Brindle. "The fact my husband was playing was irrelevant - he was just another player.

"We were pretty successful, so that made things very simple at home. I dealt with the batting, he dealt with the bowling and it worked pretty well as a team."

An improvement in facilities near Brindle's home allowed her to train alone and paved the way for her to return to international cricket in 2011.

Now, however, not only does she juggle sport with her career as a teacher, but also her commitments as a mother, after son Harry was born in 2008.

"There are periods that Harry and James aren't with me, but we try to keep them to a minimum," she continued. "I'm very fortunate that they can come and join me on tour.

"To Harry, mum just plays cricket. On tour, he finds it more fun playing corridor cricket with the all the other girls - he just thinks that's part and parcel of being a four-year-old."

Taylor and Brindle may have had differing reasons for their breaks from international cricket - and vastly differing experiences when they were away from the game - but, as they prepare to defend the World Cup which England won in 2009, they agree that time removed from the fray has helped them as cricketers and individuals.

England women in "a good place" for World Cup defence

"You've got to have a balance," explained Brindle, who was not part of the squad that lifted the trophy in Australia. "Harry really gives me the opportunity to switch off. If you've had a good day he's the same as if you've had a bad day.

"He has a smile on his face, wants to play and spend time with you. It's a real leveller, keeping you fresh and enjoying your cricket.

"But you need the drive. The thing that made me want to come back was the competitive edge that these girls train and play with day in, day out."

Taylor, about to play in her second World Cup, concluded: "I can't picture me doing anything else in my life that would give me the same feeling.

"I'm currently doing an accountancy course and I can't imagine getting the same rush building a purchase ledger.

"There was a time when I thought 'what else is there to do?' Now I think 'I want to do that again'."

If England do lift the World Cup on 17 February, there is a good chance Taylor will be in the headlines once more.

This time, though, it will not be for any flirtation with men's cricket, rather an achievement that she, and Brindle, might otherwise have missed out on.

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India's changing attitude to women's cricket

By Stephan Shemilt BBC Sport in Mumbai Think India, think cricket.

Each day in Mumbai every grassy space is occupied by some sort of cricketing contest. Men's cricket, that is.

However, from India women's captain Mithali Raj to children of the slums of Mumbai, there is hope that the country's attitude to the sport is changing.

“If matches are televised on a regular basis I'm sure women's cricket in India will catch up”

Mithali Raj India women's captain While in many ways India has become the game's modern home, it faced accusations of being behind the times during the scheduling controversy that marred the run-up to the Women's World Cup.

Yes, political pressures made it necessary for Pakistan's games to be moved from Mumbai, but the decision to evict the women from the city's biggest stadium, the Wankhede, to accommodate the men's Ranji Trophy final, left a sour taste.

Furthermore, not one of those games that take place in Mumbai's parks appear to involve any women. England are assigned some local youngsters to bowl at their net sessions, but a girl is yet to be spotted.

So, when England trio Holly Colvin, Danielle Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont gave a coaching session to some Mumbai schoolchildren, it came as a surprise that the group who arrived at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) was made up entirely of girls.

That, though, was only part of the story. Helped by Room To Read - an international charity focussing on literacy and gender equality in education - these girls had come from the slums of Mumbai.

"For them, this opportunity is like touching the heavens," said Room To Read's Neelima Naik. "When they knew England were coming here, they practised for three days.

"They said 'we are having England players play with us, they shouldn't feel we are not good enough'.

"They look at the likes of India captain Mithali Raj as a role model and are dreaming of being like her. The entry to CCI could be the first step."

India's best finish in the women's World Cup was as runners-up to Australia in 2005.

However, despite the enthusiasm of an inspirational figure such as Neelima, one cannot help but wonder that, even if these girls possess the talent, Indian attitudes to women and women in sport would hold them back.

As the World Cup began, former India captain Diana Edulji described the Board of Control for Cricket in India's approach to women as an "insult". 

She explained the fee for woman playing in a domestic one-day match was 2,500 Rupees (£30) and only 1,250 Rupees (£15) for a Twenty20.

"It's well known that boys still get more opportunities and support in both sport and education. The culture of India is male dominated," said Neelima.

"It's still a big thing for a girl child to be allowed to go to school. She could instead be cleaning the home, looking after a sibling or earning money.

"But I am seeing a little change of attitude. There are growing opportunities and even the government is trying to support girls' development. The mental make-up is still that the girl has to do housework, but that is changing."

When the group of a dozen or so girls have finished their lesson in cover drives and dancing Gangnam Style from Colvin, Wyatt and Beaumont, two are introduced through Neelima's interpreting.

Mithali Raj has scored 4,499 runs in 143 ODIs

Fifteen-year-old Radha explains that her parents are vegetable vendors. Leena, who is 14, says that her parents are domestic servants. Both are incredibly excited to be asked to speak, but their manners are impeccable.

"Very rarely do we get the chance for cricket because mum feels we should not play," says Radha. When asked about who their hero is, the response is predictable. "Sachin Tendulkar," is proclaimed through wide smiles. What about Raj? "Yes, Mithali," but the answer is not quite as convincing.

Later that afternoon, media gather to put questions to Raj, the undoubted face of women's cricket in India. The second surprise of the day is that at this press conference there are more female journalists than male.

The journalists explain that the Women's World Cup would not really register in India if it was not the host - there is little around Mumbai promoting the tournament, but TV adverts featuring men's spinner Ravichandran Ashwin urge the nation to get behind Raj's team.

They do, however, point out the ramped-up coverage in the newspapers. Broadsheets The Times of India and The Hindu both have half-page spreads devoted to the World Cup, complete with pictures of Raj and team-mate Thirush Kamini. It's unheard of.

"It's a big event, the World Cup attracts a lot of people and media coverage," says Raj.

"People always come up to me to ask about who we are playing and when so that they can follow the performances of the team.

"If matches are televised on a regular basis I'm sure women's cricket in India will catch up."

It's a vision that Neelima shares.

"I hope that one day women cricketers in India are greeted and welcomed everywhere they go," she said. "That we have women's cricket on television and people stay at home to watch.

"That is the dream for all of us."

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VIDEO: Meet the England women's cricket team

28 January 2013 Last updated at 07:17 GMT

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