Charlotte Edwards is out to continue the rise to prominence of women’s cricket by leading England to Ashes glory this summer.

Edwards’ side are chasing a hat-trick when the series begins next week after regaining the crown in 2013 and successfully retaining it on Australian soil in 2014.

Speaking to Sky Sports recently, Edwards, who hails from Pidley, said: “A battle between England and Australia is something any cricketer looks forward to and it is undoubtedly the pinnacle of our game.

“There is a huge respect between the two teams and I’m sure that will continue.

“We need to concentrate on doing our talking with bat and ball over the next few weeks.

“The success we’ve enjoyed in recent years has really made a difference in our sport.

“The game now is unrecognisable to that which I started playing many years ago. I had to play boys’ cricket but now there is the opportunity to play girls’ cricket.”

The Ashes series will be contested across all three formats of the game with a point-scoring system in place to decide the overall winners.

It begins on Tuesday at Taunton with the first of three 50-over one-day games.

The teams do battle again on July 23 at Bristol and July 26 at Worcester with a victory being worth two points.

The sole Test match begins on August 11 at Canterbury, Edwards’ home club ground for Kent, when four points will be awarded to the winning team. The sides collect two apiece in the event of a draw.

Three Twenty20 clashes then complete the series in late August with the winning team in each game earning two points.