"Many people will know Lottie for her ability to churn out the runs on any wicket. However, for me it was her absolute passion and love of the game that had an effect"
Monday 4 May 2020 12:26, UK
Who did the Sky Sports Cricket experts idolise growing up? Every Monday, we will be asking one to pick their cricketing hero and this week it's Lydia Greenway's turn...
I first met Charlotte Edwards at a Senior County trial for Kent when I was 14.
I had been invited to train with the team leading up to the county championship tournament held in Cambridge each year.
Naturally I was nervous, not least because it was an opportunity to put my name forward for selection but also because Lottie was probably the best player in England!
I thought I had ruined my chances of selection during a fielding drill at the start of the session when I threw the ball and it clocked her on the knee - she went down like a sack of potatoes.
I remember feeling the dread of thinking I had injured our best player and I would never be picked again, but luckily she got up (eventually) and the damage was limited.
When I was a few years younger, my dad had taken me to watch some of the England games so I knew a few of the players but because the women's game wasn't hugely publicised back then I didn't have a chance to watch them week in, week out on the TV. So, to get the chance to train and play with Lottie from a relatively young age was something that had a massive impact on me.
Many people will know Lottie for her ability to churn out the runs on any wicket, at any time and in any situation, that in itself is something to admire. However, for me it was her absolute passion and love of the game that had an effect. She had a great ability of making the game enjoyable but never compromised or lost sight of the fact that we were playing to win games of cricket.
She understood how to bring players together and really build a team and that was one of the reasons for us winning two World Cups in 2009. Lottie, together with coaches Mark Lane and Jack Birkenshaw, built a group of players who were driven and focused but most importantly team-orientated - a recipe that we continued to strive for after those World Cup wins.
In my early years as an England player and still as a late teenager, I watched Lottie like a hawk, not just seeing how hard she trained and what she did (first and last to training), but also how she carried herself and behaved in different situations.
I learnt that sometimes you need to front up, and take responsibility. She led by example massively in that way, she never cut corners and if she said she was going to do something she always did - for a youngster it was a really important lesson.
I remember when I was just making my way into the England team I had started to let my standards slip in other teams I was playing for, I was turning up that fraction later than everyone else and on one occasion the Kent team were meeting the night before a game to have a team meal and I again turned up late.
That evening, she called me to her room and it wasn't quite the hairdryer treatment but I can tell you I wasn't late again from that point on! She had high standards and being disciplined in the simple things were just as important as going out to win a game for the team - that is something that has always stuck with me.
The other interesting thing about Lottie, is that if you ever shared a room or sat next to her in the changing room it would always be so messy! But, when it came to game day you could bet that her playing kit would be absolutely immaculate - she took great pride in representing any team she played for but none more so that wearing the three lions.
For some reason Lottie always supported me - even when I was struggling with form, she would still believe in me and back me to perform.
I don't think you can ever undervalue a captain or coach genuinely believing in you and that is something I have always been grateful for.
Lottie is one of the best players our game has seen and I feel extremely privileged to have had a close up view.
