Low crowds, no data and a big step into the unknown

England are among the favourites to lift the Women's T20 World Cup this month but the tournament will be lessened by the late move to stage it in the UAE, writes Sonia Twigg

- Sonia Twigg

Alice Capsey only turned 20 in August but she is already preparing for her second T20 Women's World Cup.

A product of the Hundred and already an established figure on the ever-expanding women's franchise circuit, Capsey has already played more cricket at the highest level than many a few decades older than her would ever have thought possible. Aged just 16 and decked in Oval Invincible turquoise, Capsey was striding out to bat alongside Georgia Adams in front of more than 20,000 people at the Oval. She never looked back but has not taken the journey for granted.

"Heather [Knight] spoke about when she made her T20 debut, it was basically in front of just friends and family and then, when she got her cap in India in December playing in front... I think we had 40,000 people there," Capsey tells The Independent.

"That's the difference and I guess how far the game has come on in the last couple of years. That was a kind of 'pinch me' moment and a bit of realisation about how far it has come, and for the senior players, the journey they've had in their career."