Anya Shrubsole says England Women always believed they would return to action this summer

Seamer Anya Shrubsole says England Women’s long wait for the return of international cricket has been softened by the thought of what could have been a fixture washout this summer.

Heather Knight’s side have not played since March, when they were knocked out of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final at the semi-final stage as bad weather and the absence of a reserve day combined to allow India to progress to the final against eventual champions Australia.

The onset of the coronavirus pandemic then forced the postponement or cancellation of all global sporting events, with India Women and South Africa Women subsequently opting not to tour England.

But last month. West Indies Women confirmed they were prepared to play a five-match T20 series, which gets underway on Sky Sports Cricket on September 21.

By the time England Women do begin that series, the England men’s teams will have played 15 games in various formats against Ireland, Pakistan and Australia but Shrubsole told Sky Sports that doesn’t grate.

“These are obviously very different and very difficult times and sometimes things are going to look a bit different and you’ve got to get your priorities straight,” said Shrubsole, back to full fitness after an operation on her foot.

“Men’s Test cricket was always going to be a priority for this summer. What we always believed as a squad was that the ECB would work unbelievably hard to get us some cricket and that’s what’s happened.

“It would have been very easy for us not to play at all, especially after India and South Africa pulled out.”

As part of their preparations for the West Indies series, England Women are playing four intra-squad matches in the bio-secure environment at Derby, where last month they acclimatised to conditions during a 12-day training camp.

The imminent return to international action – and the chance to add a T20 World Cup to her 75 caps in the shortest format of the game – means Shrubsole is raring to go.

“Personally, I’ve had a couple of really good World Cups but we’ve obviously not managed to get over the line since 2009 – so that would be something that would cap it all off really nicely,” she said.

“We’ve got an amazing year or so coming up, building into a huge 2022 for the Women, where we’re going to have a Commonwealth Games and play Twenty20 there and a T20 World Cup, so if we can knock off those two in 2022 it would be amazing.”

Sky Sports Cricket’s live schedule

• Monday September 21: 1st Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

• Wednesday September 23: 2nd Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

• Saturday September 26: 3rd Vitality IT20, England v West Indies

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