England's Mady Villiers wants Women's T20 World Cup debut win
Thursday 20 February 2020 12:54, UK
Mady Villiers is struggling to believe her ICC Women's T20 World Cup debut could be just days away, and is forever thankful to her England predecessors for paving the way.
The 21-year-old spinner is in line to make her global tournament breakthrough Australia, seven months after surprising the tournament hosts on her international debut, taking the wickets of Alyssa Healy in Ashleigh Gardner in one Ashes over.
WATCH WOMEN'S T20 WORLD CUP | TEAM GUIDE | QUIZ
What better time for Villiers to enter the upper echelons of women's cricket as the sport continues to go from strength to strength, with the tournament aiming to break the world-record attendance for a women's sport fixture when the final is held on March 8 at the MCG.
"It's absolutely massive for me to be involved in a squad of this calibre at a World Cup," said Villiers. "It's something I never through I'd be a part of, and I can't believe I'm out here now.
Live Women's ICC World T20 Cricket
"Women's cricket has come on so far for this tournament to be so big and I have to keep reminding myself what the players before me have done.
"It's easy to forget about it when you're in the moment, but I have to keep reminding myself that people have sacrificed so much to pave the way for players like me to come through.
"My hero was probably Charlotte Edwards. She did so much not only for women's cricket, but cricket in general and is a massive inspiration for all the girls of my era."
Eleven years have passed since Edwards led her England team to glory in 2009, with Villiers just 10 years of age when the inaugural Women's T20 World Cup was won on home soil.
This time she will be front and centre as one of four new England faces, along with Freya Davies and Sarah Glenn in line for their tournament debuts, while Lisa Keightley faces her first challenge at the coaching helm.
England have had a mixed bag of results in the run-up to the tournament, beating Australia via a Super Over in a tri-series with India, and storming to victory over New Zealand in their first warm-up, but they lost their final practice match to Sri Lanka by 10 wickets.
The setback and under-par performance is not a cause for concern for Villiers, however, ahead of England's tournament opener against South Africa on Sunday.
Live Women's ICC World T20 Cricket
"We're really close to being at our best," she added. "We just need to peak at the right times.
"The growth this team has made in the last few months under Lisa is fantastic and we just need to be really clinical in the moments that matter.
"We can beat any team on our day and we can go all the way."
This article first appeared on the International Cricket Council's official T20 World Cup website.
Watch the ICC Women's T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports from Friday.
