England fast bowler Lauren Filer and opening batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge are members of the squad currently taking part in the Women’s T20 World Cup on home soil. The team hope to follow England’s Lionesses and Red Roses, who won home football and rugby union tournaments in 2022 and 2025.

Wyatt-Hodge, 35, has had success on home turf before, having been part of the 2017 World Cup-winning side. Filer, meanwhile, is already one of the fastest bowlers in the world and has spoken about hoping to break the coveted 80mph barrier.

The pair took some time out of their busy training schedule to answer questions from the Telegraph Recommended Community.

How old were you when you first played a game?

Mary-Grace, East of England

I first held a cricket bat when I was at primary school in Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. But I didn’t really enjoy it. I just wanted to play football all the time. And then something just changed one day.

I ended up playing boys cricket at Whitmore Cricket Club in Staffordshire. I’m still a member there. Here we are, 27 years later and I’m still playing cricket.

I played French cricket on the beach, but I don’t really remember thinking much of it. Then my twin sister, Jodie, and I joined an under-11 girls team when we were about 10 and just loved it. We ended up joining Somerset and just carried on through there; it was really good fun.

Who did you look up to when you were starting out in your career?

David, London

I got inspired by the 2005 Ashes. So Andrew Flintoff was a big idol of mine, Ricky Ponting. Brett Lee, all those kinds of players. Women’s cricket wasn’t really on TV back then. And then the more I started playing, I realised there was actually an England women’s side and then looked up to people like Clare Connor and Rosalie Birch.

I don’t really remember watching cricket until the 2017 World Cup. I was 16 at the time and then I played for Somerset Women. Maybe two years later, Anya Shrubsole was playing for England and she was really big.

She was one of the main reasons I got scouted for England, as she told England’s coaching staff that there was someone they needed to come watch down at Somerset.

How do you prepare mentally for an important game?

Mark, South West

I always like to look at the opposition I’m going to face and look at their bowlers. Then I write down a few notes on what they do and what I’m going to do to face them. Then I just make sure I’m really practising hard the day before, and just trust everything that I’ve done in the days leading up to the game. Take deep breaths and stay calm.

But if I’m not nervous, I’m not going to do very well. I need my heart to be ticking along because once you’re across that line, you’re up against the ball and then your nerves suddenly stop. And then you just get into the groove and off you go.

For me it’s just taking the day and enjoying every part of it: the warm up, the pre-bowl that we do before the game, the huddle at the start. It’s just embracing that, going out, smiling and having fun. I think that’s one of the main things that I’ve always tried to live by – on the pitch, I always want to try and be smiling, bubbly, getting around everyone, try to keep that energy, even when it doesn’t necessarily go the way you want to.

DWH: I think the key is staying level. If I go and get 100 [runs], then I’ll enjoy it for a bit, but then not think about it. Go again.

LF: Cricket’s a massive leveller. You’ve got to try and stay as level as possible because it can tear you down.

DWH: [It can] bite you in the bum.

LF: But it can also make you feel like the best person in the world. It can be hard, but trying to keep that level head. And Danni is very good at that. She always comes up to me when we’re playing together, and she says, “I can’t wait to watch you bowl”.

Do you have any specific routines or techniques you use to stay calm?

Mark, East of England

Not really. If my life’s in a good place, then I’ll tend to be calmer and chill for the cricket. Right now, my main priority is my baby. [see below video showing Wyatt-Hodge marking her daughter’s recent birth as part of her celebrations for her latest century]. That’s all I think about at the minute, which I think is a good thing. It’s really nice to have a bit of perspective, because people think that cricket’s everything.

DANNI WYATT-HODGE HAS A T20 WORLD CUP CENTURY! 👑 pic.twitter.com/iQZcp4OmEh

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) June 12, 2026

Over the years, you learn that it’s actually not. It’s just a game at the end of the day and you can really complicate a simple game and overthink it. So for me it’s all about having the perfect balance.

You can get lost quite easily in it because you’re in a bubble and it’s quite hard sometimes to get out of that bubble of ‘this is life and death’, but it’s really not. You take a step back and actually appreciate what you’ve got, and where you are, and what you’re doing.

It’s only for 10, 15 or 20 years if people are lucky. So it’s not a long part of our life. So it’s trying to cherish every moment that we have as a team, because you can lose it very quickly.

How do you achieve a good work and leisure-time balance?

Norman, Wales

When I first got into the team, all I did was cricket, cricket, cricket. And it wasn’t very good for me. And I was like, right, I need to do something else, away from cricket, to distract me. So just hanging out with friends, chatting rubbish. It just really helps me. And now obviously I’ve got a baby, so that’s going to be a massive distraction for me, which I think is going to be a really good thing.

For me, it’s probably a little bit harder because we do play cricket all the time. It’s hard to get out of it. But I think again, similar to Dan, it’s seeing family and friends, even if it’s cricket friends, going out with them but not talking about cricket.

And I’ve got a dog at home and he’s the best thing ever. So at any time I need a break from anything, I’ll just take him for a really long walk and he’s just amazing. Sometimes he’ll distract me because he’s being an idiot and I have to drag him away from something, and then the stress is on him rather than cricket.

It can be really hard, though, especially when we’re on tour. I think that’s the difficult part.

Do you think there would ever be a mixed game?

Caroline, East of England

In club cricket, I think there can be. It’s just that the men’s and women’s games are very different. And the skill sets are very different. The men are really skilled in certain things and we’re really skilled in other things. When you get to the professional game, I think that’s where I would probably draw the line in mixed cricket.

The men bowl a lot quicker than us. Not many bowlers bowl at Lauren’s pace in the world, so she’s an exception. But most of the time, you’re facing slower bowling. If you look at the Indian bowlers we’re facing, they’re bowling very slow, so we have to actually force the ball. Whereas the men, I don’t want to say they’ve got it easier, but they can just use the pace and it’ll just fly over the slips for six.

LF: It’s incredible watching the men hit, that’s what I always find. It’s crazy how the ball just absolutely flies off their bat. In the women’s game, it’s a lot more running two’s, picking pockets, whereas the men just use brute force to get it over the boundary... I think people who know cricket know the differences, but appreciate both sides of it

Are you happy with what you wear in competition? Is it restrictive or too heavy?

Mabel, Republic of Ireland

It is a bit uncomfortable when you’re playing in India and it’s 40C. But [the pads batters wear] it’s going to protect us from a serious injury. So you’ve just got to do it. And we train in helmets, pads, gloves and in the heat. So we are used to it.

Even bowling in India is hard, and we don’t even have any equipment. I think you get used to it – I don’t think I even notice it any more. Although I don’t bat that much - I don’t think I run very well with pads on.

DWH: Although even when you’re batting, if you’re at the non-striker’s end, then you can take your helmet and gloves off. If it is really hot, we’ll call for drinks every few overs and cold towels.

How do you recover from the game physically?

Sally, London

I would say an ice bath is a big one. A lot of the bowlers do that, especially if we’re playing longer-format games, and then just getting food on board quite quickly after the game. Our nutritionist is on it, with either protein shakes or some sort of high-carb food or high protein straight after the game, I think that’s really important.

Sleep is a massive one. I think you can tell when someone’s not slept well in our team and you’re like, “Oh, they’ve woken up on the wrong side of the bed”. Because we travel a lot, sometimes it can be hard to get into a routine of sleep, and especially when the games are later in the day, it can be hard to switch off.

A lot of us like doing a sauna and an ice bath the next day. Especially if we’ve travelled for a few hours – the next day we get to the new destination and try and find a spa and chill out that way.

Are ice baths very demanding?

Patrick, West Midlands

I think you get used to it.

I was in a cold one the other day, though, and I didn’t get used to that.

LF: I think it does depend on how cold it is. I think if you do an ice bath at home, you’ll just get used to it. But when you go to the spa, we did one in Melbourne, didn’t we? I think in Australia it was five degrees and it was absolutely freezing and I just don’t think you’d ever get used to it.

DWH: You’ve just got to breathe through it.

LF: It was awful. But yes, it is hard, but you’ve just got to bite the bullet because you do feel so much better after. But it’s almost the next day.

DWH: Yes, the next day you do feel a bit better.

For anyone getting into cricket, is it worth buying your own bat? 

Dominic, Manchester

Definitely. It doesn’t even have to be expensive. 

No, although there are some dodgy bats out there. I’ve had to help my friends’ kids. There’s a few tennis ball bats out there that are not worth the money. 

LF: I think it’s one of those things that if you’re going to play a lot, it’s worth investing in. That and spikes are the two most important things to have in your kit. 

DWH: And make sure your helmet fits because if the helmet is too big, your child’s not able to see the ball. 

LF: I remember having a bat - this is so embarrassing - I remember having a bat with my name on it.  It just said ‘Lauren Filer’ on the back of the bat. I don’t know why I had it. I think someone gave it to me as a present.

DWH: It’s a great present. 

LF: That is the only bad thing about cricket. It is quite expensive. A lot of local cricket clubs do tend to have spare kits. Especially if they’ve got a women’s team, a lot of the women won’t have kit themselves, but there’s always a kit bag full of stuff that they can share. 

When you were playing on boys or men’s team, how did the boys react to that?

Rebecca, London

Very mixed.

I had mixed opinions. Now and again, I’d walk out to bat and you’d hear the odd, “oh they’ve got a girl playing. They’re going to be rubbish.”

LF: They always get people around the bat, don’t they?

DWH: They come so close.

LF: I remember one game that happened, and then I hit it over the umpire’s head and they were like, “Okay, guys, we can step back now.” And I was like, “Yes!”

I think it’s getting better. But it’s so hard because there are men that just don’t agree with it. I remember playing and people would be annoyed that they got out by a girl and saying that I shouldn’t be playing and stuff, which was weird.

I had it once where this kid scored loads of runs in the league that we were in, and I got him out first ball of the game and he was like, “Fair play, really good ball.” And his dad was throwing a tantrum on the side, ‘She shouldn’t be playing. She’s a girl. This is a boy’s league.’ And he came up to me after the game and the kid was like: ‘Really well bowled. That was such a good ball.’ And it was quite nice because it was like he knew his dad was being an idiot, but he actually stepped up, even though he was about 12.

DWH: I’ve had that before, where the parents got really angry. I think they said, “Oh, she’s a county player, she shouldn’t be allowed to play men’s cricket.” My dad got really angry at them.

How do you relax on tour?

Emilia, South East

A lot of us have gotten into our reading, haven’t we?

Reading’s a big one. Guitar. A few people have a guitar on tour. playing cards. Going out for coffee. Coffee’s a big one in our team. I think that’s a daily… I couldn’t even imagine how much we spend on coffee.

DWH: We love going for a nice dinner as well, don’t we? As a team. especially if we’re staying in nice places.

LF: She always knows the nice restaurants and she always knows the owner, so it’s great. ‘Get a table, Dan.’ But it’s all just trying to, even when you’re in it, just trying to get out of it. Which sounds really stupid, but just trying to.

DWH: Try and enjoy where you are in the world because we travel to some beautiful places around the world. So I think it’s really important we actually embrace that and enjoy all the different cultures and everything.

What are your coffee orders?

Nathan, North East

Flat white, one sugar. I need a sugar.

I don’t really drink coffee or tea and I always get slated for it, so I’d probably get sparkling water. If I were to have a coffee, it would be a skinny iced mocha. And even then, that’s a push. My stomach does not enjoy coffee.

What are you reading at the moment?

Hannah, Midlands

Freida McFadden – we love a bit of Freida, don’t we? All of her books are really good.

Freida McFadden and Colleen Hoover are quite popular ones in our group, aren’t they? I’m reading Heart Bones. I think it’s by Colleen Hoover. It’s a lovey-dovey one. But I haven’t finished it yet. A lot of the books I like are either psycho-thrillers or love stories.

I think people go from reading a couple of psycho thrillers and they’re like, “I think I need a break from all of that”, and then they’ll read one “love” thing, and then they’ll go back to it.

DWH: Every book that Freida writes is just – they’re all so different. But, similar. And yeah, they just get me.

LF: Verity by Colleen Hoover is the one that got me into reading. And when we were in India, that was the only thing you could do, wasn’t it?