Over at cricket with balls, there is unhappiness at the rather muted reaction to the England women’s world cup win compared to what we would have seen with the men were they to win the world cup.

In a way though, this is probably a good thing, at least for the players involved.  One of the first rules of sporting success is recognising that becoming a success is the easy part.  From this point forward, England will be the team everyone is looking to beat, starting with the Women’s World Twenty20 and the Ashes test this summer.

Rather than marking the beginning of a period of sustained success as we had hoped, the Ashes victory in 2005 was the high point of that team, not because they were reaching the end of their careers, but because of the nonsense that followed.  Celebration is fine, but compare the reaction with that of Manchester United when they capture a big trophy – “right, let’s go and win another one”.  Instead we are still suffering from the muddled thinking that pervaded ever since.

Admittedly, it had been nearly 20 years since we had beaten Australia, so naturally the celebrations were exuberant.  But this resulted in some players losing focus.  Combine this with injury problems, particularly, in my opinion, the loss of Simon Jones, and you have the beginning of a downward spiral.

Hopefully the women can use the World Cup win as a springboard to continued success, which will be the real way to build a bigger profile.  Rather that than a flash in the pan.

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Congratulations to England’s women, who beat New Zealand to take the Women’s World Cup in Sydney yesterday.  Player of the Match was Nicki Shaw, who had been uncertain of her place in the team before injury granted her the chance to shine in the final.

Aside from individual performances, the team had shown throughout the tournament why they were one of the favourites to win.

With the World Twenty20 being played alongside the men’s event this summer, and the Ashes to follow, this can only add to the profile of women’s cricket in the UK.

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