An English View - looking back on the tournament

I'm at a loss for words. Five weeks into the tour and our CricInfo Women's World Cup campaign is now officially over. We've got a couple of days left together before heading our separate ways, some home for Christmas, others staying in New Zealand to travel or play cricket in the State tournament.

This last week has been intense; three internationals within five days, needing wins in all three to guarantee World Cup survival. The first match against Australia saw a heroic effort in the field; an excellent opening partnership with the ball from Pearson and Taylor gave us three early wickets - a dream start. We managed to keep them to 190, about 100 runs short of their last total against us in February this year; our bowling and fielding has come a long way. As in our other matches our batting has let us down. We did beat Sri Lanka but had a disappointing game against New Zealand on Thursday.

Personally, I've had a good tournament with the bat. I've enjoyed the challenge of playing against world-class bowlers and learnt a lot about the way to play cricket at this level. There are many things that England need to take away from this tour, both as individuals and as a squad; the most important of which is a commitment to enhance the standard of everything that we do. This is relevant to all aspects of the game, from physical preparation to the quality of the cricket that we play on a daily basis. Only when each individual in the team is mentally, technically and physically capable of executing their role will we be consistent in challenging the likes of Australia and New Zealand.

From a player's perspective the organisation of the tournament has been fantastic; the logistics, accomodation, food, use of facilities etc. have gone smoothly with a minimum of fuss. From a batsman's perspective the pitches have been great; not enough bounce for Fitzy to drop one in short and not enough turn to allow the Indian spinners to tie you to the crease. I 'd like to extend a huge thank you to all involved on behalf the England Squad. Best wishes to all players in the knock out stages of the competition, I'll be cheering from the sidelines!