England women lead the way

It's great to see the England women do so well so far in the Women's World Cup - I hope burbling about their success to date doesn't curse them (I was holding off until I felt sure they'd reach the final!). So far they've seen off Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and most recently New Zealand. And, possibly crucially, Australia are struggling to make it out of the super six stage and into the final - there are no semi-finals, it's just the top 2 that reach the final. Australia's loss to India, a side they beat 5-0 only in November, puts them under a lot of pressure and they may potentially have to settle for the 3rd/4th playoff.

England's latest win against New Zealand was their closest fought to date and could well be a reharsal for the final. The spinners showed the way with Holly Colvin and Laura Marsh (who shook off learning that Mark Davis has a crush on her very professionally) leading, more than ably supported by Charlotte Edwards who followed up her 57 with the bat with 4-37 with the ball. It's great to hear that on of the reasons for England's success so far has been electric fielding - so often fielding is underestimated as a match-winning skill behind batting and bowling. Not that either of the other suits are weak - Claire Taylor averages 94 and Caroline Atkins averages 77 with the bat, and Laura Marsh is top wicket taker and second most economical bowler.

I think it's brilliant the way the women's game is developing and it would be great to see England go on and win the World Cup after they retained The Ashes last year. (Should that be a capital T on "The Ashes"?) The current table shows that England are dominating and they will inevitably have 8 points after they have played West Indies on Tuesday as they are really struggling without a super six point.

Even assuming Australia beat Pakistan in the next match of the tournament, it could be impossible for them to get through now - Cricinfo describe their World Cup defence as "virtually over". New Zealand still have to play India and the winner of that match still has a further match against one of the two bottom sides - West Indies and Pakistan, so the highly likely result is that either New Zealand or India will finish on 8 points - enough to see Australia out of the tournament.

From an England point of view, here's hoping.