Fanning the flames

Clare Taylor: It was our first game of the 1997 World Cup - against South Africa at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad. It had been raining all night and great efforts were being made to dry out the pitch - women were in the outfield using sponges, and trays of coals had been placed on the pitch. Obviously we were very keen to play, which is why Lottie [Charlotte Edwards, right] and I went to help out. The match was played eventually as a 20-overs-a-side game, and though I was named in the team as a bowler, I didn't bowl, because we decided we'd be better off taking the pace off the ball. It was a low-scoring game, which we won. Lottie did bowl and took three wickets. Photograph by Getty Images