An England cricketer once again, Tash Farrant is a symbol of the domestic game's new era

NICK FRIEND: There was a time when Farrant didn't think these days would come again, having lost her central contract at the start of 2019 without a safety net. But with a domestic contract and the South East Stars captaincy, she is back in the fold

Tash Farrant’s first car was a sponsored Kia Sportage, one of the perks of being an England cricketer, even as a schoolgirl.

From the age of 17, when she made her T20I debut, international sport was all she had known. Until, suddenly, it wasn’t.

Farrant’s story has been well told in recent months, used – alongside those of Alex Hartley and Beth Langston – as evidence that there can be life after central contracts.

When she signed a summer retainer in June to join South East Stars as captain, it meant that she was a professional sportswoman once more, having spent the previous 16 months getting used to the idea that her ship might have sailed. “When it all came crashing down, my whole world was gone,” she told The Cricketer last year.

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And so, it is difficult to overstate the significance of her presence in New Zealand – both on a personal level but, more widely, as a symbolic moment for women’s cricket in England. The number of messages she received from former teammates, as well as the regularity with which her journey has been referenced by others as an encouraging precedent, highlights quite what this means.

“I think initially when I lost my contract it was a bit like if you lost your contract then it was very hard to get back into the team,” she recalls. “So, initially I wasn’t that positive on whether I’d be able to get back into the squad.”

Farrant took a couple of months away from the sport as she faced up to the future. She had held an England deal since their inception in 2014.

“But I think I knew within myself, deep down, even if I didn’t want to tell myself it, that I had some unfinished business in an England shirt. I feel like I’m still young and I’ve got a lot to learn still, so I think when I got over the initial disappointment of losing my contract and started to work on my game as an individual with specific one-to-one coaches, and then obviously when the new regional contracts came in, that was a new lease of life for me.

“When those regional contracts came in, I knew deep down that I had some unfinished business and I wanted to work really hard to get back into the mix. I definitely wasn’t expecting it to be this soon to be honest, but obviously I’m just really grateful to get the opportunity again because I didn’t think it was going to come at one stage.”

^{17-year-old Tash Farrant is handed her T20I debut cap by Charlotte Edwards}

It was former England batsman Lydia Greenway, also Farrant’s Oval Invincibles head coach, who guided her into a new phase of her life, helping to secure a job at Trent College, where she became head of girls’ cricket.

There, she met Scott Boswell – the former Leicestershire and Northamptonshire seamer – who has become an integral part of her rebirth as an England player. Boswell, the school’s head of cricket, is an ECB Level Four coach and he worked with Farrant as her new reality became clear.

“For me, it was the fact that there wasn’t really much to fall back on,” she says, reflecting on the lack of safety net for those dropping out of the international game at a time before domestic contracts. “So, it did feel sort of a bit like it was the end of the world at the time. I won’t lie, I was very disappointed.

“It was tough working without the support of being in an England squad but as soon as the regional contracts came in, that was a great moment for me. That was a time when I was really excited to be part of a team again as that’s probably what I missed the most.”

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It might seem an unusual viewpoint, but Farrant holds no regrets. The camaraderie of the England dressing room was replaced by Trent College’s PE department and she learned to live without some of the privileges that came with a central contract: she planned her own training sessions, committed to her own fitness programme and found time to fit it all in around a real job.

“I knew that I needed a bit of time away and that it would be good for me,” she says. “I’d been in the programme since I was 16 or 17 and it had all been England, England, England which obviously was great, but I needed a bit of time away and, to be honest, I wouldn’t change anything now.

“If someone said to me you could not lose your contract, it probably sounds mad but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I probably needed that time away, on a personal level, to get some normality back in my life but also working things out in cricket for myself, working out my own game.”

^{Farrant is part of England's squad in New Zealand}

Those experiences have given Farrant a new perspective on life and perhaps a different outlook on the challenges of elite sport. It means that she stands out from her teammates; once upon a time, she was in their shoes, having known nothing other than playing cricket for England. This time around, she is wiser, more streetwise and certainly more knowledgeable around her own skillset as a left-arm seamer, picked for this trip effectively to fill the void left by Anya Shrubsole’s knee injury.

In January, Heather Knight praised her character in fighting back from two years of adversity. “I feel like she's matured a lot in the last couple of years being away from the side,” she said. “She's gone back and had to find a job and she's experienced that a little bit, so I feel like as a player she's got a bit more perspective as well in where she was. I think she's really developed as a cricketer but also as an individual over the last two years.”

Farrant concurs; if the opportunity presents itself to add to her 15 international caps over the next fortnight, she will appreciate the honour that little bit more.

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“At the very beginning when I made my debut when I was 17, I didn’t really realise how amazing it was,” she admits. “Obviously, I was in the squad for a long time and didn’t actually play that much and that was hard. I can’t even compare myself to before.

“I feel like a different person, being out of the game, and I feel like my cricket is in a completely different place. I’ve had to work on things myself and get to know my own game which I think has really helped and hopefully that will put me in a better place going forward.

“I do feel a more rounded person I guess now, and much more relaxed at where I am and knowing that I’ve come a long way but still have a long way to go.”

^{Farrant captained South East Stars in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy}

Her story, ultimately, is early proof of what professionalisation has set out to achieve. Farrant namechecks Stars teammate Aylish Cranstone and Central Sparks captain Eve Jones, whose commitment to the hard yards has resulted in professional deals.

Georgia Adams, the leading run-scorer in last years’ Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, has made her move and must surely now be the next cab off the batting rank. “If you’re performing in a competition, you’ve got a great chance to be selected for your country,” England head coach Lisa Keightley told The Cricketer in December, highlighting the platform provided by the restructure of the domestic game.

“Having the winter training, especially the five contracted players but even the wider squads, the performances are going to be a whole different level just with the support that we get throughout the winter now,” Farrant adds. “I think that’s going to be a big change and I think the standard is going to go up so much.

“I think in the women’s game, it’s always been seen that you retire when you’re a bit younger. But I think now with this regional stuff, I don’t think age should be a limit, to be honest.

“If you’re playing well, I don’t think age should be a limiting factor. If you put in the performances, it doesn’t matter how old you are – you should be able to get yourself into England or back into England.”