England Women's 3-2 win powerful platform for World Cup year

England Women's Georgia Elwiss blogs on the 3-2 win over West Indies, Heather Knight's captaincy and rooming with Sophie Ecclestone...

What a week it's been in Kingston, the heart of Jamaica. 

We always knew playing West Indies away from home would produce a really hard-fought series and it certainly hasn't disappointed. In every single game we have had our skills, fitness and emotional control tested, and to come out on top in some really tough games is an amazing feeling. 

This group of girls and our management team is really creating something special and I'm so proud of how everyone in the series has, at some point, stood up and taken responsibility. Our character, belief and togetherness is stronger than ever and it's such a powerful thing leading into a World Cup year.

The final three ODIs on this tour have counted towards the ICC Women's Championship - the qualification tournament for the ICC Women's World Cup in England next summer - so it was doubly brilliant to win the final clash - taking the series 3-2, and also adding a couple of points to our Women's Championship tally. We now sit comfortably in second place in the table, and need just one win during our next tour to Sri Lanka to guarantee our place. 

Click here to find out more about how to apply for the ICC Women's World Cup ticket ballot.

Special mention must go to our skipper Heather Knight who has led us brilliantly over here. I've always been a fan of her calm and cool captaincy style but she really does lead from the front in every discipline and it's a pleasure to play for her. It's also so rewarding to be playing alongside so many of the girls I've grown up with or have looked up to for so long in such an evolving team. 

This second half of the tour I've had the pleasure of rooming with the youngster of the group, Sophie Ecclestone, and it's been my job to show her the ropes. Throughout the last few weeks we have had a fair few funny incidents involving some of the tour rookies, here are a just a couple of examples (there are loads more!):

1.  Alex Hartley offending our tour guide at the Bob Marley museum by asking who the Wailers were halfway through the tour... age or ignorance I'm not sure! 

2.  Eccles (Sophie Ecclestone) struggling with the low wattage in Jamaica, resulting in a two-hairdryer-pronged attack to tackle her long locks.

My personal favourite though involves Sophie's worrying lack of geographical knowledge. One day senior pro, Danni Hazell, took it upon herself to sit young Eccles down and talk through some basics. Step one: ask Sophie to draw a map of Great Britain and annotate with as many cities and landmarks that she could think of. Let's just say, it's a good job she is back at school next week!

The last three weeks have been one of my favourite touring experiences. As Danni Wyatt keeps reminding everyone: "I can't believe we're playing cricket in the middle of the Pacific Ocean" (not quite, Dan - it's the Caribbean Sea) but you can understand her sentiment. 

We are incredibly lucky to be doing what we love in places like this. It might sound a bit cliché but to think we are on such an amazing journey together... And it's just the beginning. Bring on Sri Lanka next month, and hopefully qualification for the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 in England! 

Click here to find out more about how to apply for the ticket ballot. For further 2017 Women's World Cup tournament information, click here.