Former Berkshire player Emma Boswell has been appointed by Oxfordshire Cricket Board as their first Director of Women & Girls Cricket.

Boswell – a retired former Royal Navy submarine officer – is currently Assistant Coach of Berkshire’s Women’s 1st XI, and has also done some work with their age group sides this year, where she is a popular figure with the girls.

Her role at Oxfordshire will be to oversee the promotion and development of Women’s cricket throughout the county. A key focus will be creating an effective pathway – from school, via club, county and Super League, to England – ensuring there are enjoyable and rewarding experiences for the players at every stage.

Boswell is also set to return to the field with Oxfordshire, who are currently 2nd in Division 3 of the Women’s County Championship, with 3 wins from 4 completed games this season.

Lauren Winfield:

There were a few criticisms of the team after the World T20 – do you think you’ve answered those?

It was an important series for us, to not only win 6-0 but the way in which we’ve gone about those runs. It’s about being ruthless and playing the brand of cricket that we want to play, which is to win by big margins. So it’s not necessarily just about the wins, it’s how we’ve played that’s been most pleasing.

Is ruthlessness a personality trait?

I’m a very ambitious and driven person so it was really tough for me not going to the [T20] World Cup. But it was an opportunity to go away from the game and say: ‘Right – where am I going here? What kind of role do I want to play for England and how on earth am I going to get there?’

I was obviously aware that changes were occurring within the team and opportunities were opening up, so I worked exceptionally hard within that period and now it’s really nice to be contributing a little bit more to England wins. It’s something that I’ve not done previously as consistently as I’d like, but hopefully long may it continue.

Are you and Tammy Beaumont sick of the sight of each other?

Me and Tammy have played a lot of cricket together – we opened together at university, and we actually used to compete against each other for opening spots. But we’re growing as a partnership and learning more about each other, both on and off the field.

I think something we’ve done really well “as a group” this summer is having lots of cricket conversations away from the game – learning about how people operate under pressure and what various members of the team need from each other and at what times. It’s been a real good learning curve for us – we’ve got a better understanding of each other as a group and hopefully that’s been shown in our cricket as well.

How do you and Tammy complement each other?

We hit different areas – if you look at the game today, our wagon wheels are quite opposite, so that’s always nice as an opening partnership and it is difficult for oppositions to be setting fields and getting bowlers to try and execute plans, if you are hitting opposite areas

Also I think we both love batting – we want to be out in the middle and we want to be the ones putting our hand up. Going out there as openers, you’ve got the longest time to bat – you know when you are going to bat, and it is just about taking those opportunities.

You certainly enjoyed the PowerPlay?

That’s how I like to play my cricket – I like to be aggressive and I never want to be in a position where I feel like I’m under pressure from the bowler – I always want to try and counter that onto the bowlers. My job within this team in T20 cricket is to lay the foundation and get the team off to a good start, so that’s what I’m looking to do every time I bat.

XBox and PlayStation game developer Big Ant Studios have announced that some of the top women cricketers will be featured in the new version of Don Bradman Cricket, which is set to be released on consoles in time for Christmas.

Big Ant, who are based in Australia, have gone all-out to do things properly – working with some of the Southern Stars to get the unique motion capture right for the female players.

The previous version of the game – Don Bradman Cricket 14 – was aimed more at hardcore fans than casual gamers, but nevertheless received mainly favourable reviews, with the Daily Express, for example, commenting: “Don Bradman Cricket IS the real deal… it’s almost as if you’re playing the real thing.”

Last year, women players were added to EA’s “FIFA” football game for the first time, with all the top international teams being featured, including England and Australia.

Fran Wilson:

Were you nervous going out there today?

Yes, I was nervous. Obviously it’s been 5 years since I last played. I think I’ve grown up a lot in that time, but I was definitely very nervous. But I’ve worked hard on my game and I knew exactly what I wanted to do, just hitting the sweepers hard, running hard. If you simplify it, it takes away the nerves really.

Did it feel like you were on debut again?

Pretty much. We were joking, we were saying that if it’s been a 5 year absence everything should be wiped and you should just start again! So I might propose that!

Was the pitch quite hard to score runs on?

Yes, it was pretty tough, especially [Bismah] Maroof bowling really slow. But I guess that’s a lesson learnt for the next game.

Heather Knight:

What was the pitch like?

I think it was probably a slightly worse pitch than we thought. We thought it was going to be an absolute belter when we started…I think Pakistan put their best fielding performance in, and when they took the pace off [the ball] it was quite hard to score. Probably we didn’t get quite enough boundaries in the powerplay, but the main thing is we got a score on the board and the bowlers were outstanding.

With the short boundaries today, did you think there were going to be more chances today to score boundaries?

No, they’re the same boundaries that we’ve played on for the last few games. They’re the boundaries we’ve been used to, and I think it’s something that’s worked quite well…Fran was brilliant today. Like she said, she knows her game much better now and has really progressed in those 5 years, and hopefully there won’t be another 5 year absence now!

Jenny Gunn bowled particularly well today?

The batters have taken all the plaudits this series, but I think the bowlers had their day in the sun today. They were brilliant: Jenny Gunn at 30 and Sophie Ecclestone at 17 doing the business at each end is really nice to see. Jen was outstanding. She knows her plans very well and executed them brilliantly today.

You chose to open the bowling with Nat Sciver today. Is that something we’re likely to see again?

In T20 you’re sometimes trying to get one step ahead of your opponents, and do something slightly different. We feel Dani Hazell is probably our best powerplay bowler, and I think she showed that today. The worst overs as a bowler, the ones most likely to go for runs, are the ones at the back end of the powerplay…We decided to [open] with Nat today, we thought we might get a little bit of swing and bounce as well. It might be something we see again, it might not!

The ECB have today confirmed to CRICKETher that there will be no live Sky Sports TV broadcast of any KSL matches this summer, including Finals Day on 21st August.

However 7 of the matches, plus Finals Day, will be broadcast live ball-by-ball on BBC Test Match Special.

In addition, the ECB’s digital channels will be producing a vast array of content throughout the competition, and OPTA will be live scoring every game.

It had previously been hoped that – following on from their coverage of England Women’s matches against Pakistan this summer – the inaugural KSL Finals Day would be covered by Sky. However, due to the men’s NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day being on 20th August (with the reserve day on 21st August), it is now felt that it would not be logistically possible for Sky to cover both events.

While Sky will not be offering live coverage of the tournament, they will be pulling together an exclusive “behind the scenes” piece working with three of the six KSL teams to document the first year of the competition.

Tammy Beaumont:

Did you feel confident from the outset today?

“Yes, definitely. Knowing that you’ve done quite well in the ODIs, you’ve got a bit more freedom to take a few more risks in the T20s. If I didn’t get away today I’m sure Lauren [Winfield] would have at the other end – we’re working really well together at the moment. It’s nice for it to come off.”

What have you worked on in your game over the past 5 or 6 months?

“Certainly since Robbo has come in, he’s wanted me to go out there and try and strike the ball hard. It’s something I do quite naturally: with my backlift being a little bit different, it helps generate a lot more power into the ball, and that’s something that I’ve been aiming to do. If one day I go out there and get caught on the ring that’s not the end of the world, as long as I’m trying to hit the ball hard – that’s the main aim, keeping it that simple.

“The other thing is just letting it come to me a little bit longer, and keeping my hands through the ball as long as I can really.”

How much is it about having fun?

“I think that’s where we’re at as a team. Whatever we do, we work hard or train hard, but we do it with a smile on our face. A lot of us play our best cricket when we’re enjoying it, and that’s certainly something that we’re trying to keep replicating each game, and the more and more we’re playing at the moment the more we’re enjoying each others success.”

Does it feel like a different side compared to the one that was knocked out of the WWT20 in the semi-final?

“Yes, potentially. There’s just a lot more freedom to do what we’ve been working on so hard. We’ve all been working on things in the nets [and] there’s just that freedom to go out there and do it, and know that if you fail then it’s not going to be the end of the world. Yes, there’s always more pressure in an international tournament, but we’d probably take that freedom now.”

Sophie Ecclestone:

A week ago when we saw you playing at Wokingham, did you ever expect that this would happen?

“I would never have expected where I would be now. Getting to take my first international wicket is something I would never have dreamed of, especially at the age of 17. I’m not even an adult yet!”

Were you happy with the way you bowled today?

“Yes, I am very happy with the way I went today. I thought I’d be more nervous, but as soon as I walked past the rope I was fine…it’s just an unbelievable feeling.”

Did Mark Robinson talk to you a lot beforehand about the bowling plans?

“He kind of just let me get on with it, because he knows it’s my debut and he knows that Trev [Heather Knight] and me have got it sorted! He left us to it!”

England have called up Lancashire’s 17-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner Sophie Ecclestone for the T20 series against Pakistan, starting at Bristol on Sunday.

Ecclestone hails from Cheshire, but joined Lancashire in 2015. Earlier this year she impressed for England Academy in the pre-season tri-series with Sri Lanka A and Australia’s Shooting Stars in Sri Lanka, taking 16 wickets on the tour, including a 4-for versus Sri Lanka A in Panagoda.

Additionally, Kent’s Tash Farrant – the leading wicket-taker in the County Championship – is recalled to the England squad, after missing out in the ODIs.

England will however be without vice-captain Anya Shrubsole, who is injury-listed with a side problem.

Full squad:

• Heather Knight
• Tammy Beaumont
• Katherine Brunt
• Sophie Ecclestone
• Tash Farrant
• Georgia Elwiss
• Jenny Gunn
• Alex Hartley
• Dani Hazell
• Amy Jones
• Laura Marsh
• Nat Sciver
• Fran Wilson
• Lauren Winfield
• Danni Wyatt