Yorkshire Diamonds captain Lauren Winfield hopes Super League can carry momentum of World Cup win

Winfield played her part in England’s historic triumph as the women’s game savoured its biggest showcase in front of more than 26,000 spectators at the World Cup final at Lord’s.

However, nine days on from that epic moment at the Home of Cricket, she has already switched attentions from celebrations to ensuring a legacy for her sport.

The 26-year-old will captain Yorkshire Diamonds for the second year running in the ambitiously-created Kia Super League – a T20 franchise tournament aimed at showcasing the best of the domestic game.

The tournament will begin on August 10 with Yorkshire’s opening game played against Lancashire Thunder one day later at Headingley – as a precursor to the Roses T20 battle later that evening.

For a first time, some league matches will be shown live on Sky Sports and Winfield is eager to see the tournament take off into orbit.

“It should be a really exciting competition,” she said.

“There’s such a good vibe around the game. Wherever you go, people are talking about women’s cricket and the World Cup.

“It’s really important that this tournament is a big success.

“It had its teething problems last year with it being a new tournament and not knowing what to expect with teams. This year we know what to expect.

“This tournament will be really well supported again and it should be great to be part of.”

Winfield led her side in the inaugural competition last year, but it proved a desperate introduction, with the Diamonds finishing bottom of the pile after their five league matches.

Much has changed since, including the arrival of Paul Grayson as head coach in place of Richard Pyrah, who joined Andrew Gale’s men’s set-up.

Winfield added: “The harsh reality of last year was that if you lose two games, you’re effectively out of the competition.

“The competition is so short, it’s hard in the sense that you have to start the car early and we struggled to do that. We played better cricket by game four and five last year, but it was unfortunately a little too late.

“There is no two ways about it, we will be looking to do a lot better than we did last year.”

Alongside Winfield, the squad features fellow World Cup winners Jenny Gunn and Katherine Brunt, but spin bowler Danielle Hazell has moved across the Pennines to captain Lancashire.

South Africa’s Sune Luus and New Zealander Sophie Devine have arrived as overseas players with Sri Lanka’s Chamari Atapattu following suit as a late replacement for Australia’s Beth Mooney.

Winfield believes they have sealed the cracks in their batting line-up from 12 months ago.

“We have a stronger side so I would hope we would go well,” she added.

“We really struggled with our batting last year, but we have definitely enhanced that this year.

“We have some real big-game players, a lot of characters, that turn up in big match situations.

“When you are showcasing what you can do, you want to entertain people. We have definitely got those players in the dressing room.”

Growing up in Stamford Bridge, it would have taken some imagination for Winfield to dream of playing her part in a sport-defining success for women’s cricket in England.

But as Anya Shrubshole bowled India’s Jhulan Goswami, Winfield and her team-mates wrote their names into folklore on the biggest exhibition of the game in history.

“It was really surreal, but an amazing moment,” said Winfield.

“What a crazy game and a fantastic one to be a part of.

“People keep saying, ‘you’re a world champion’. For us, you just love playing the game and pulling on the shirt for England. In some senses, nothing has really changed, but in others, a lot has.

“Women’s cricket in this country will now change forever. It’s really special and amazing to be part of that with such a good bunch of girls.”

Despite the glory, Winfield’s performances fell short of her own high expectations. She totalled just 107 runs in seven innings having missed England’s opening two matches with a wrist injury.

“It was frustrating because I was getting starts, but I never really got off the ground and got a big score,” she reflected.

“As long as I keep approaching it with the same mindset, and look to be positive and aggressive, I’m sure the big scores will come.

“That’s the way I want this team to play. I want them to be aggressive and to take that positive intent. Hopefully we can do that.

“We definitely have the players and that mindset in the team. “I want to lead from the front in the manner in which you are going about your business.”