As England fly home from their tour to South Africa, new coach Mark Robinson undoubtedly has some issues to reflect upon; but he also has some reasons to be cheerful:

1. They Took Home The Silverware

England might have lost a couple of matches they would have hoped to have won – particularly the ODI, when the loss also meant dropping points to a rival in the race for automatic World Cup qualification. But even Australia lose the odd match here and there (the Southern Stars have dropped points to both India and New Zealand so far this year) and at the end of the day, England recovered to bring home the silverware in both the ODI and T20 series.

2. They Have Taylor and Shrubsole

As if we needed reminding, England have in Taylor and Shrubsole two world-beaters who could carry them to WWT20 glory in India. Despite a couple of blips in ODIs 2 and 3, Taylor topped the batting numbers with 278 runs at an average of 56 and a Strike Rate of 125; whilst Shrubsole looks to be back in the sort of form that made her Player of the Tournament at the last WWT20 – taking 15 wickets at an average of 16.5*.

3. They Have a Coach Who Is Doing The Right Things

Mark Robinson’s reign might not have gotten off to the perfect start, but he has done a lot of things right on this tour. Despite what you might think, I firmly believe that one of them was not dropping Tammy Beaumont for the final T20, despite her failures in the first two matches; and in the final game she proved something – to him, to me… and possibly even to herself – by carrying England home when things were actually starting to look just a little shaky for a moment! Similarly the faith shown in Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt will also hopefully start to pay dividends, as Mark starts to make his… er… MARK!!

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* Stats include the warm-up matches.

With South Africa winning the 2nd T20, that series now stands at 1-1; and with van Niekerk in the form she’s in, you’d be a fool to bet against the Women Proteas taking the silverware in the decider on Sunday.

There is little doubt that South Africa continue to improve, and I stand by my predictions that (1) they are a very good bet to reach the 2017 World Cup final, and (2) Dane van Niekerk will be the best player in the world in her generation… Meg Lanning or no Meg Lanning!

South Africa’s success has been generally attributed to the impact of increasing professionalism, with most of the team now on semi-pro contracts. But it is also the case that they seem to have been blessed with some very good young players – not just van Niekerk, but Suné Luus, for example – a leg-spinner whose action is so smooth you have to wonder if she actually has a shoulder… or does her arm just rotate in a large spoonful of treacle?

Meanwhile England have… Tammy Beaumont – over 50 internationals, with a highest score of 44 and an average just-about scraping into double-figures.

Let there be no doubt that we consider “TB” a very, very good county player. If she were a man, she would have had a solid career at a middling First Class county… a Notts or a Somerset… with a benefit year at the end of it, followed by a comfortable retirement, perhaps in a coaching position at a minor public school… doubtless earning a lot more that she does now as a centrally contracted England professional.

But one thing she probably wouldn’t have done is played for England.

So you have to ask what Mark Robinson saw that persuaded him to select her in his squad for the World T20?

Well.. in fact… you don’t have to ask, because we know – he saw her in the nets at Loughborough. And yet it is increasingly clear to everyone who has followed the game for a number of years (and to be fair to Robinson, he’s been very honest that he hasn’t…) that the nets at Loughborough just aren’t walking the walk.

Ask yourself this: which England players have got better over the past two years, since they holed-up at Loughborough as “full time pros”?

(With apologies to Private Eye…)

1. Heather Knight.
2. Er…
3. That’s it!

And even in the case of (1) we suspect this has got a lot to do with the two winters she has spent out in Australia, under the tutelage of the excellent Julia Price at Tasmania Roar / Hobart Hurricanes.

It is hard not to think that England stand in sharp contrast to South Africa’s bright, young future – an aging squad, at least one of whom will almost certainly never play international cricket again; and a very shallow pipeline, which leaves us turning back to players who have already shown that they don’t have quite what it takes at this level.

If Mark Robinson didn’t know it then, we imagine he’s realising it now: there is a vast gulf between English domestic cricket and the international game, and players who are very good at county, and look classy in the nets against a bowling machine they know better than the back of their own hand, can be found-out awfully quickly in the heat of international battle.

When we first met Robinson back in November, he told the assembled press corps that England didn’t need radical change. Perhaps he was just being polite to the old regime? Perhaps not? But when Robinson said that, the editor and I glanced at each other, both thinking the same thing – if we are going to compete for world cups, radical change over the longer term is really now the only option we’ve got!

Kent’s Tash Farrant – who hasn’t played for England since the original central contracts were announced two years ago – is the surprise selection in England’s squad for the T20 World Cup in India next month.

A left-arm seamer, whose main weapons are line and length rather than pace, Farrant can be difficult to get away, and England will look to her to keep the run rate down rather than take wickets.

She has played 7 T20s and 1 ODI, the last during the 2013/ 14 Women’s Ashes in Australia, taking 5 wickets as a rookie 17-year-old. Now 19 with two years professional coaching behind her, she has her opportunity to make her mark on the world stage.

Not making the trip will be Yorkshire’s Lauren Winfield, after a string of low scores in 2015/ 16. Since making 70-odd against South Africa at the end of the 2014 summer, she has failed to pass 50 in 13 subsequent international innings across the formats, and it seems as though this poor form has finally come home to roost.

Katherine Brunt has been named in the squad, despite being sent home from South Africa with a recurrence of her ongoing back problems. If she is unable to recover, it is likely that Kate Cross will be on standby to take her place.

Full Squad:

• Charlotte Edwards
• Tammy Beaumont
• Katherine Brunt
• Georgia Elwiss
• Tash Farrant
• Lydia Greenway
• Becky Grundy
• Jenny Gunn
• Dani Hazell
• Amy Jones
• Heather Knight
• Nat Sciver
• Anya Shrubsole
• Sarah Taylor
• Danni Wyatt

At just-past the half-way point in the race for automatic qualification for the World Cup in England in 2017, Australia remain way out in front of the Women’s International Championship with 20 points, ahead of West Indies (16) and New Zealand (14) with England and South Africa tied on 13 points for joint-4th*.

Failure to secure automatic qualification would obviously be deeply embarrassing for England; but looking at the remaining fixtures finishing in the top 4 should really be a breeze.

England’s remaining matches are against the two lowest-ranked sides in the “Top 8” – Pakistan (at home this summer) and Sri Lanka (away) – and West Indies (away). Even if they lose all three matches against West Indies, as long as they win the Pakistan and Sri Lanka series 3-0, they will almost certainly guarantee themselves a top 4 finish.

England’s route is made easier partly because South Africa – their main rivals on paper – have a much more challenging year ahead, with series against all three sides above them in the table – New Zealand, West Indies and Australia.

Meanwhile New Zealand face Australia, South Africa and Pakistan, from which you’d expect them to take sufficient points to finish the job; whilst West Indies have South Africa, England and India – none of them doozies, but with 16 points already on the board, they have that little bit less to do.

Projecting, we think the likely automatic qualifiers will be Australia, England, West Indies and New Zealand; with India remaining a strong wildcard pick, even though they currently have only 7 points, because like England they also have yet to play both Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Finally, let’s not lose sight of the fact that even the sides finishing 5th/ 6th (i.e. two of England, West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa and India) will almost certainly jump hoops through secondary qualifying against the likes of Bangladesh and Ireland** to still be there in England in 2017.

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* Although South Africa have a marginally superior Net Run Rate, according to the rules that technically doesn’t apply unless the teams are tied at the END of the competition, so for the moment “joint 4th” is strictly correct!

** Not to say one or both won’t qualify too… but perhaps at the expense of a Pakistan or a Sri Lanka… not a South Africa or an India!

All-rounder Nat Sciver has been passed fit to return to England duty in time for the T20 series in South Africa later this month.

Sciver is missing the ongoing ODI series after picking up an ankle injury; but will now rejoin the squad ready for the T20s which begin next Thursday.

Sciver is set to fly out to South Africa on Valentine’s Day… and with the World T20s just around the corner, her return is perhaps the ultimate Valentine’s present for new coach Mark Robinson and the team.

In a statement to CRICKETher, an ECB spokesperson has confirmed the situation regarding the board’s Anti-Corruption Code, which (among much else) prohibits top players from betting on cricket, akin to the regulations under which two Australian domestic players have been sanctioned this season for placing wagers on men’s matches.

Last week, CRICKETher examined the relevant clauses of the code and suggested that it appeared that:

1. Most county players were not subject to the code because women’s county cricket is not classified as First Class or List A.
2. Some individual players may be subject to the code if they have “day-jobs” working for First Class counties*.

The ECB has now confirmed the situation on both of these points, stating that the code “does not extend to all female county cricketers” but regarding those who work for First Class counties: “it would entirely depend on the role that the county is employing them to perform [and] each role would have to be considered against the rules contained within the ECB Anti-Corruption Code for participants.”

The ECB has also explicitly stated that the code will apply to all participants in this summer’s Super League, though this will apparently be by contract, rather than by extending the definition of “Domestic Matches”.

“The WCSL players will be registered with the ECB, will be bound by the code, and will receive the necessary anti-corruption education.”

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* The application of the code to non-playing employees of First Class counties makes a lot of sense. For example, coaches discussing tactics in the locker room, or ground staff preparing nets or pitches, may well have access to information which would allow them to make “insider” bets; so to avoid all suspicion of impropriety, the code should and does apply.

Perth Scorchers Piepa Cleary has become the second Australian domestic player in recent months to be sanctioned for betting on a men’s cricket match – the recent “day-night” Test between Australia and New Zealand.

Betting on any cricket match is prohibited by the code of conduct which all top-level players in Australia are required to adhere to.

Late last year, Sydney Sixers Angela Reakes was handed a 2-year ban for placing bets of less than $10 on the men’s World Cup final; but this ban was “suspended” – meaning that in practice she is able to continue training and playing as normal.

Cleary has also been banned for 2 years, but in her case only the last 18 months are “suspended”, so she is actually banned for 6 months – a considerably harsher punishment than Reakes, justified by the fact that Cleary had attended face-to-face “anti-corruption” training earlier in the season.

Although the term of the actual ban is off-season and is unlikely to effect her participation in next season’s WNCL/ WBBL, it does mean that Cleary won’t be able to train or play with the Australian development squad – the Shooting Stars – of which she has recently been a part, including playing against England Academy in last year’s tour to Dubai.

This news is further evidence of Cricket Australia’s determination to hold top-level women’s domestic players to the same standards as their male counterparts – something that is perhaps a little easier in Australia than it would be in England because of the clearer distinction between what is (and is not) “top level”.

Middlesex captain Izzy Westbury – who has previously openly discussed betting on men’s cricket – gave her response on Twitter:

It is obviously a nuanced question, but one that should still give any English domestic player pause for thought. Betting on The Other Game might not be technically illegal for non-centrally-contracted players in England right now; but to be on the safe side, perhaps it might just be better to err on the side of caution?