Wisden has, for the first time, given a dedicated women’s cricketer of the year award and it’s a positive step. Obviously, women have been included in the five cricketers of the year before, with Claire Taylor and Charlotte Edwards, but to have a woman in there every year is good news. People might say it should be “all cricketers equal” but if you’re going to have a woman in there every year, it’s a good step.

Interest in women’s cricket over the past few years has been really big and hopefully it will continue to go that way, so this should help get more people interested in what’s going on in the game.

It is testament to how far women’s cricket has come and how much more it is in the media eye now. I remember hearing about Wisden’s five cricketers of the year when I was growing up, so this shows how many more people are taking notice of our game. It doesn’t quite mark the arrival of women’s cricket but it does reinforce it a bit more.

It can inspire younger cricketers as well. It’s important for young girls growing up to see that it’s normal to be a woman in cricket these days, which is great, and it’s obviously good for the game to get more people playing.

Probably more significant than the main award is the fact that there is a dedicated section for women. The men’s and women’s games are obviously very different, so to have those two alongside each other and recognised every year is awesome.

It could also help with the wider coverage of the women’s game. In the past it did maybe come across as a bit patronising but over the last few years I’ve noticed the difference. People are a lot more knowledgeable about women’s cricket now. Journalists know a lot more about it and when we’re on television we have a lot of similar presenters to the men’s game, with people like Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton, and they’re obviously very clued up.

I think it’s important to just see it as cricket, and to have the same commentators, I guess, gives it a bit more kudos.

With that comes the criticism – if we don’t do well then it gets mentioned, which is how it should be. That’s what we want as players – we don’t want to be talked up if we’re not doing well, so we should be more accountable if we’re in the public eye a little bit more. It’s totally fair that if we don’t do well then pundits should be able to give their honest opinions on the game; that’s definitely what we want.

As for the inaugural winner, Australia’s Meg Lanning has been incredible over the past year but hopefully this summer in the Ashes she will not be quite as good as last year. Credit to Meg taking over the captaincy, too, but we will be looking to keep her quiet this summer.