From seeking inspiration to inspiring: Sarah Glenn's rapid rise

By her own admission, Sarah Glenn doesn't get emotional too often. It's just not her. But on 23rd July 2017 at Lord's, Glenn found herself tearing up. England had just won the Women's World Cup, beating India thanks to a remarkable spell of bowling from Anya Shrubsole, on a spine tingling day. "I wanted that. I want that feeling," Glenn recalls. "Once I experienced that, it kind of hit me and I was like, yeah that's what I want to do."

Shortly after being named player of the series in England's five-nil victory over West Indies, Glenn was named the Natwest PCA Women's Player of the Year. It has been quite a rise for the 21 year-old leg-spinner. This time last year she had yet to play international cricket. She only made her debut on the tour to Malaysia late last year and has played just 15 T20Is and three ODIs since.

Nevertheless, Glenn has made quite the impression. She averages 11.62 with the ball in 50-over cricket and 12.63 in the shorter format, quickly establishing herself as one of the brightest young prospects in the game. "I still can't get my head round it," she says of her development. "It's still a bit of a shock. I don't think it happens that often that you make your debut and things change so quickly.

"I knew I wanted to be in the England side one day but I didn't know if I was going to or how long it was going to take. So for everything to have moved so quickly and to get this, I'm just going to really enjoy the moment. As you know with cricket, and sport in general, you have a lot more bad days than good days so I am just going to try and enjoy it with my family and friends."

As a youngster, Glenn was a batter who bowled seam. "I used to think I could bowl absolute gas," she smiles. "But I got to a certain age when my wrist just started to go out. My brother pulled me aside as was like, 'What are you doing?' He tried to explain to me about leg-spin. I was really young. He explained it to me and he told me leg-spin was quite rare, quite hard to bowl. So I found that as a challenge and I wanted to do that, it sounded more exciting to me. That's how I picked it up."

Glenn watched YouTube videos of leg-spinners, including Shane Warne, to help her understand the art. She looked up to other players too. Glenn liked the way Jenny Gunn and Katherine Brunt played their cricket. She has had a lot of support from Derbyshire batsman Wayne Madsen, who also coached her at hockey. A number of coaches, including Salliann Briggs at Loughborough Lightning and Gareth Breese, have helped her refine her bowling.

There came a time when Glenn had to decide between hockey and cricket. She played hockey to a very good standard, representing England at youth level. But she knew she couldn't devote enough time to both games. She knew, too, that cricket was the game for her. "I always knew deep down I was going to go with cricket," she says. "It's something I have grown up with. It means a lot more to me. I have got family connections with it and I've played it from a younger age."

England's clean sweep over West Indies showcased the growing influence of their three pronged spin attack. Glenn, Sophie Ecclestone and Mady Villiers have all bases covered; Glenn bowls leg-spin, Ecclestone slow left-armers and Villiers off-spin. Against West Indies, they shared 15 wickets between them and with Villiers being just 22 years-old and Ecclestone and Glenn 21, they have the potential to be pillars of the England side for the next decade or more.

"It definitely helps communicating with them," Glenn says. "Me, Sophie and Mady in the games against West Indies, we just kept speaking to each other. Whoever bowled first out of us three would tell us what the pitch was doing, how it was working. It is just nice to have the person there to comfort you if you are struggling or if you have got any questions. The support definitely helps our performances."

The third match against West Indies was aired on the BBC, the first women's international to be shown on terrestrial television since 1993. Glenn hopes the exposure that match offered will have inspired young girls to take up the sport. "When it was live on BBC, I thought right, let's put a great performance on and show what we can do. It was quite a special day," Glenn says. "It's starting to sink in that young girls are starting to look up to me. I still feel like a young girl myself, looking up to people.

"It's not processed yet that I am becoming that role model. That's really special to me. It's something I have always wanted to be, to inspire young girls. To know that they have female role models to look up to is a lot more motivating. Young girls think I could be that person one day. They look up to that. It's quite special to know that that could possibly be happening with younger girls now."

Glenn has just arrived in Australia for the Women's Big Bash, where she will be representing Perth Scorchers. She hopes to continue her development in that tournament, particularly with the bat as she aims to become a genuine all-rounder. Given the way Glenn has progressed over the past 12 months, it would be no surprise if she quickly became one.

The first NatWest Cricket Awards, a combination of the PCA Awards and NatWest OSCAs, honours both the community cricket club heroes and professional stars of the season in one event that will celebrate the game from the ground up in recognition of an extraordinary year for the sport.