Would be nice if we could repeat our Lord's feat: Heather Knight

Every time we take part in a global tournament, we get the sense that the world of women’s cricket has moved on again.

We are constantly progressing, and it makes me incredibly excited to think of where we’ll be in two years, four years and so on.

The ICC Women’s World Cup – that we were lucky enough to host last summer – was an amazing advert for the women’s game and further proof that more and more people are flocking to our sport.

Of course, the final at Lord’s was sold out, which is not a sight I ever thought I’d see, and that has now led to aims of selling out the MCG in 2020. To even have the ambition of selling those many seats is exciting.

Focusing on the here and now, we’re heading to the West Indies for the first standalone ICC Women’s World T20. We’ve been lucky enough to dovetail with the men’s game for some time – and there are pros and cons to both models – but I also like the idea that we’re standing on our two feet and putting the women’s game front and centre.

I know the West Indies will be keen to put on a great show and hopefully we can play some entertaining cricket that the fans enjoy. It would be nice if we could repeat what happened at Lord’s last summer as well!

One of the most exciting things about that tournament for me was watching young kids’ reactions to us. When I was first playing the game, I generally looked up to men’s players and I know that was also the case for a lot of my teammates, and opponents. They were often the only cricketers you could see.

Now though a young girl watching the ICC Women’s World T20 for the first time can look up to Katherine Brunt, Meg Lanning, Smriti Mandhana, Stafanie Taylor or whoever. There are now any number of role-models and that’s truly exciting.

Young girls – and boys – can watch in the ground or on TV and imagine that they too can have a career in the game, that they too can play in front of sold-out crowds, that they too can live out their dreams on the biggest scale.

That’s progress and that’s truly exciting.

We can’t wait to get going. There’s room in the squad for three newbies – Sophia Dunkley, Linsey Smith and Kirstie Gordon – and I can’t wait to see how they adapt to the highest level if they get their chance.

Kirstie has international cricket experience with Scotland, and all three have been performing well in our domestic competitions.

We’ve got to that stage now where we just can’t wait to get out there and get going. The build-up is always so exciting, but it does make you extra desperate to get out there and feel bat on ball.

We’ll be ready to go once November comes around and hopefully we can play our part in another tournament of progress for women’s cricket.

(Heather Knight, who led England to victory in last year’s ICC Women’s World Cup, has scored 533 runs and taken 14 wickets in 48 T20Is)