Despite all the amazing support I have received and my best efforts to overcome injury, I have come to accept that I can no longer reach the level of performance required to compete at the standard needed. Not being able to perform to the high standards I set for myself, combined with the mental and physical toll of ongoing injury, has ultimately brought this chapter to a close.
Spirit, who are based at Lord's, have made eight signings in total, with Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa and big-hitting South Africa batter Dewald Brevis also joining the men's team. Australia's Grace Harris remains at the franchise alongside Dean, while seamer Mahika Gaur and South Africa legend Marizanne Kapp have also been added to the women's squad which will be led by ex-England head coach Jon Lewis.
Growing up in rural India, Shafali Verma always knew she had a hunger to play cricket. But in her small town of Rohtak, in the north Indian state of Haryana, cricket was not a game for girls. Aged nine, desperate to play, she cut her hair short, entered a tournament disguised as her brother, and went on to win man of the match.
It is her home and also her prison. She doesn't leave it much these days. But she does have a bat, and a ball, and spends her days training with her four sisters in the small garden and the courtyard of her house. Sometimes, when the Taliban are in the street outside, they train in the basement, so no one can hear the sound of young women having fun.
India secured a 13-run win at Chester-le-Street against England, concluding their tour successfully with a 2-1 ODI series victory despite England's valiant effort at chasing down 319 runs.
