Women's World Cup final preview

Never mind whether England's winless winter of discontent continues today, we have a team in a World Cup final on Saturday night (11pm start) and even more importantly, Australia do not. It's England v New Zealand and Line and Length is honoured to invite a guest writer to do the preview. Jenny Roesler is a former assistant editor of Cricinfo, who was swept off her feet by an Australian and now lives with him Down Under. Despite such poor judgment, she is very welcome here.

POSTCARD FROM SYDNEY

Dear all,

Wish you were here in sunny Sydney for the Women's World Cup. What has been a fabulous festival fortnight – comparing favourably, let's just say, with the endless 2007 men's version – peaks on Sunday at North Sydney Oval. Charlotte Edwards's England are raring for their third title, against one-time winners New Zealand.

Both teams deserve to be in the final, as they have played the most consistent cricket. Each lost only one match and has batting firepower aplenty, so it is a hard call. But there is a real chance that at last a senior ICC trophy will have England's name on it. So, have a night in on Saturday and beg, borrow or steal a sofa, Sky box and sleeping bag.

Or at least get up early, à la the nation's Sunday morning rugby-final-mania of 2003. You never know, you could just catch the classy Claire Taylor hitting the winning run in calm Jonny Wilkinson fashion. If it's still all too early for you, there are video highlights on the ICC website, while Cricinfo will have provided ball-by-ball coverage (there's the gratuitous plug).

Whichever way you look at it – and I really hope you do – England's long-time dedication could be about to pay off. Here's a cheat sheet of points to drop, casually, into conversation with friends to really impress them.

1) The last time these sides met in a final was at Lord's in 1993 when Jo Chamberlain, a truck driver, starred for England.

2) This is Charlotte Edwards's fourth World Cup, but her first time in the final.

3) England's Claire Taylor is the world's No 1 batsman in the ICC rankings, while pint-sized Isa Guha, her team-mate, is the No 1 bowler.

4) England all-rounder Jenny Gunn has been reported twice for a suspect bowling action in recent weeks - firstly in grade cricket in Sydney, then in the opening match against Sri Lanka. She has since been cleared.

5) New Zealand's captain Haidee Tiffen made her first ODI century in New Zealand's last Super Six game against Pakistan. It was her 116th attempt, and her previous best was 91.

6) Tiffen shared a world-record stand of 262 with Olympic basketballer Suzie Bates who smashed records of her own that match with a breathtakingly brilliant 168.

Yours, Jenny

Comments

[Dileep Premachandran]

Good show, Jen. Enjoy the game. Hope it's a good one.