How are you now as I understand you have recovered from quite a serious back injury?
I was out of international cricket for 20 months and I started back again on our last tour of Australia and New Zealand. I managed to play in all five one-dayers in New Zealand. It was a big ask because you would normally come back and get back up to speed with your club and county but for me it was straight back into internationals. Fortunately I have managed to stay injury-free since.

Is the rhythm back now?
I’m still building my speed up as it was a massive injury for me and the bowling action is heavy on my back, but when I feel like I can let go again I will.

It must have been tough to be out of cricket for so long?
I have had the same journey as Simon Jones has had, being out for such a long time and then having to battle back to get up to full fitness. I have met Simon a few times as we were both doing rehab at the National Cricket Centre at Loughborough. He was just bowling off a couple of steps and was still rapid. He was very frustrated at not being able to run in and bowl flat out and we were both in the same position.

How quickly do you bowl as I hear you are possibly the fastest bowler in women’s cricket?
I have been clocked at 75 mph, which is not bad for a woman. It’s about the same pace as Paul Collingwood bowls. But I have got to build back up to that speed. It was bowling fast that caused my back to go. I bowled a bouncer at our captain in the indoor nets at Loughborough, which was particularly sharp and took her helmet off, and a disc in my back slipped out. It happened because of my aggressive bowling but that is what I’m about. It will be a bit scary next time I want to let go and bounce someone and the injury is bound to be in the back of my mind.

Who are your influences?
My role model has been Darren Gough. I play at the same club as he did, at Barnsley. I played with his brother who was my captain in the second team. I went back and played for them recently and he ended up making me bowl 12 overs.

Did you play in boys’ cricket?
Yeah I went through the age ranks from the age of nine through to Under-17s and then I concentrated on women’s cricket. When I was playing mixed there was only me and one other girl in the whole league. Once I got into the full England squad that has been my main focus. I go back now and again to Barnsley – I see Dickie Bird there now and again.

Does women’s cricket receive enough credit or publicity and how has the game moved on?
It gets a lot more than it used to. Just before I started playing for England in 2004 the players were paying for themselves to go on tour and paying for their own kit and travel so it was costing them a lot of money. Some of them had to move back in with their parents so they could afford to play for England. They didn’t receive a wage, just expenses. They were paying a lot out of their own pocket. The captain Clare Connor had to sell her house and move back in with her parents at 26 – she couldn’t afford to play for her country at that time (otherwise). Now things are a lot better. There is Sport England and six of us are on a Chance to Shine project, so we are employed by the ECB and Chance to Shine and we receive a wage from that for our work. We can pick our hours – one girl just does five hours a week because she has a full-time job and I do 20 hours a week of cricket coaching in state schools. The job is really handy because they pay you while you are on tour but if you had a 9-5 job and wanted 15 weeks holiday they wouldn’t take us on. This allows us to keep a job down and play for England.

So a flexible job is what you need to keep playing for your country really then?
Yes that’s right. There’s a 16-year-old South African women’s cricketer who I would call a superstar because she is the best batter I have ever seen and throws a ball flatter than any man I’ve ever seen, but she quit cricket recently and said she won’t be playing for charity. That shows there are a lot of other women’s cricketers a lot worse off than us. She couldn’t afford to live and play cricket.

Women’s cricket in England seems to be on the map more now. Is that because the standard is better or because the media coverage is better?
A bit of both I think. The ECB are trying to get us involved as much as the men and organise PR events that includes us. We also have our own range now of fitted gear rather than men’s cast offs that usually drown us. It’s also been a great year for us as we retained the Ashes in Australia – we are playing the best cricket we have played for years and it is showing in the media. People are getting more excited about it now. They have just announced a Twenty20 Women’s World Cup as well so if we can continue to play well who knows how big it will get?

You have been at ECB corporate events recently at the launch of the adidas kit range and also a Kwik Cricket launch with Asda but presumably TV coverage has to be the aim doesn’t it to really move women’s cricket along?
In the last five years we have had two full matches aired on Sky Sports a year. This year it’s gone up to three, which is still not much at all but it’s getting there. I would much prefer it if all our games were aired and it would also be nice if we were integrated into television adverts on Sky along with the men. Hopefully this will happen in the future.

Do you ever see a day when women’s cricket will be on a par with men’s cricket?
I would love to see it. Tennis has just become equal in terms of pay, which I totally agree with. Golf and football has taken major steps though still are not as equal as they could be. I would like to think that cricket can follow in their footsteps though I don’t know for sure whether it will. If you are having to have a full-time job while playing cricket you are never going to be as good as you can be so it would be nice if something is done about it to promote women’s cricket even further.

What other jobs have you had to do while playing cricket for England?
I worked at a solicitor’s as a files manager for six months before a tour and then lost that job because of my leave and then I worked in my Dad’s electrical business as a secretary. Now I love cricket coaching and going into schools and passing on my abilities. I would love to start up my own cricket business, maybe in coaching.

America’s women’s soccer team has become very marketable. Can you see the same thing happening to a women’s cricket team, like England perhaps?
We’ve joked about doing magazine shoots in FHM and things like that. I would be happy to do that and sell the sport as long as it is in a non-degrading way. It would be in good jest I would have thought. We would be happy to do most things but I don’t think our media go looking for this sort of stuff. We thought it would be a good idea to do a calendar like the men but we never get the opportunity to turn up to a photo shoot and be pampered. We are always in our cricket gear which is not the most flattering. Men don’t like to see women being masculine, but there are ways to show that we are still girls. At least now the new adidas clothing is more tight-fitting and is more feminine and we also have a new designer Paul Costello who has dressed us very nicely.  

What are your immediate plans for this summer?
To get my rhythm and confidence back in my bowling so I can let it rip again without worrying too much about my back. We have two big tours over here this year against India and South Africa, including a huge match at Lord’s on August 8 against the South Africans. I just hope I get picked as I haven’t played in front of a home crowd for a couple of years now. I also want to stay fit as I hated sitting round and not being able to play.

Katherine Brunt was speaking with Richard Sydenham after promoting Asda Kwik Cricket, which encourages young children to stay healthy and play cricket.

Send in your comments on this interview, women’s cricket or any related topic to fans@bigstarcricket.com and see them published