The former England international and one-day coach believes his squad are in a good place as they look to bounce back from relegation on the final day of last season.

England bowler Kate Cross has a clear vision of what women’s cricket needs going forward and if her words ring true expect 2015 to be a break through summer for women’s cricket.

Bury-born Kate Cross is looking to continue her progress in another Ashes summer that looks set to be the biggest one in women’s cricket history after Sky Sports agreed to increase its coverage.

England’s ninth highest wicket taker Darren Gough of all-time is a loyal friend to Kevin Pietersen and was best man at his wedding but thinks the controversial batsman’s chance of a national team recall are very slim.

Kate Cross, Lancashire’s first female professional cricketer and Jennifer Laycock, Women’s Cricket Development Officer for the county both agree that the recent development of women’s cricket will help it share a similar status to their male counterparts.

In an industry where millions of pounds are on the line, not to mention millions of eyes being cast, doing the right thing can sometimes be lost yet for every bad showing of sportsmanship there’s a showing of good.

With the 14th annual NatWest CricketForce promising to be another blockbuster event given more than 2,000 clubs are registered to take part this weekend, former England captain Mike Gatting sees a bright future for the game in this country.

Bobby Denning, who has held his position since October 2013 and has worked for the LCB in various roles for 14 years, accepts that cricket faces serious challenges to arrest decreasing levels of participation.

Back in 2013 former England captain Mike Gatting rolled his sleeves up and got stuck into voluntary work at Heywood Cricket Club, and the ECB Managing Director of Cricket Partnerships hopes they get stuck in again this time around too.

England’s embarrassing 15-run defeat to perennial whipping boys Bangladesh on Monday continued 23 years of misery on cricket’s biggest stage, since England reached the final in 1992.

A youthful Lancashire squad will attempt to bounce back from the County Championship Division Two for the third time in 11 years after their last-day relegation in 2014.