Georgia Elwiss blog: England Women close to World Cup goal in Sri Lanka

Ahead of the first ODI against Sri Lanka on Wednesday, England's Georgia Elwiss blogs on a tough Abu Dhabi training camp, a nasty training ground blow and rooming with Lady Lauren Winfield...

Greetings from Abu Dhabi! 

It's been a quick turnaround since the end of our tour to the West Indies and after a few days rest at home we were back into training at National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough. Our attention is now fully focused on our next challenge: four ODIs against Sri Lanka encompassing the final round of our ICC Women's Championship campaign. 

It's incredible to think how far this team has come since that first match of the ICC WC when we took on India in a very chilly Scarborough in 2014. Now we are on the cusp of qualification for next summer's ICC Women's World Cup on home soil, needing just one victory (two points) from the three ICC Women's Championship matches in Colombo over the next couple of weeks. 

Follow updates from the first ODI between Sri Lanka and England on Wednesday by clicking here.

Before touching down in Sri Lanka, we have stopped off for a short and sharp preparation camp in Abu Dhabi, with some members of the England Women's Senior Academy, to get us up to match pace. 

Upon arrival at Abu Dhabi airport we were very amused to find that in our team manager's absence, and according to "the man with the sign", the person placed in charge of guiding us to our hotel was Katherine Brunt! She rose to the challenge (it's harder than it looks trying to coordinate 15 cricketers and our support staff - much like herding sheep!), and everyone was transported to the hotel efficiently. 

We have been spoilt by some absolutely fantastic facilities over here - it's certainly a place like no other. Training in the desert has been an experience, but we have been very well looked after and it's been great to have the Academy girls training with us. We've been pushed really hard this week and training has been tough - for some even more so than others…

Danni Wyatt managed to wear one on the face during fielding practice on the first day and whilst initially mortified, making us all swear not to take any photos, she swiftly posted the photo herself to her 70,000 fans on social media! What a numpty!

Off the pitch I have had the pleasure of rooming with Lady Lauren Winfield for this first part of the tour, which has been quite amusing - in particular when she decided it was ok to parade around the hotel in her towel, because no-one would notice… Sure thing Loz, really inconspicuous! She's also loving her new Etihad eye mask - certainly making the most of that freebie. 

Abu Dhabi really is a remarkable country, and on our day off we had a trip organised to go to Waterworld. Our physio Susan, Jenny Gunn, Lauren Winfield and myself spent most of the afternoon lazing around on the rubber rings, but we did manage to build up the courage to join the adrenaline junkies in the group and tackle some of the slides.  

Unfortunately for young Hannah Jones the adrenaline didn't get her too far as she got stuck at the bottom of the loop-de-loop slide and had to be rescued by the ride attendant! She is safe and well now and just a little annoyed at the man who she is blaming for this mishap! 

We have now moved onto Colombo for the business end of the tour, and we cannot wait to get out there on Wednesday in the first ODI. We know what a threat Sri Lanka might pose on their home turf and in their own conditions, but we feel very well prepared, so we are looking forward to the challenge getting underway.

Follow updates from the first ODI between Sri Lanka and England on Wednesday by clicking here.