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"You've got to take it for what it is," she said. "We're not going to hit the ball into the crowd, but we will play some glorious shots, we run really well and our fielding has really come on in the last year. Hopefully a lot of people will come out and watch us next summer and be impressed."

The last six months could hardly have gone any better for England. They in Australia, and have proved too strong for both West Indies and South Africa on home soil.

But it will an even bigger year for them in 2009 when they return to Australia to try and win the Women's World Cup and then seek another glittering prize in the Twenty20.

The latter will run alongside the men's competition, and it offers the England players an opportunity to appear in front of packed houses at Trent Bridge or The Oval and Lord's, if the team makes it through to the semi-finals and final.

A blustery day at Northampton with only a couple of hundred people in the ground does not provide an ideal atmosphere in which to take a look at women's Twenty20 cricket.

But one spectator, who was doing so for the first time as England played South Africa in the first of three games in two days at the County Ground, was pleased he had taken the trouble to do so.

"It's on a par with the [England] under-19s which I watched here the other day. They don't have the same power, so batting is more about placement," he said.

The placement - and timing - of Edwards was perfect as she set a positive tempo for England's innings with 45 off 34 balls, including nine boundaries. The sweep shot and cover drive were particularly productive, the latter involving superb movement of the feet to make room for the stroke.

Edwards, although still only 28, has honed her technique in 112 one-day internationals and 17 Test matches. So how does Twenty20 cricket affect her approach to batting?

"I don't think I've had to adapt my technique - I think it's just about your mindset. You've just got to go out there and be really, really positive, and play the shots you're good at more often than you would do normally. I've been quite successful so far at Twenty20 by doing that," she said.

"They say that in Twenty20 there's more pressure on the bowler, but I think there's more pressure on the batter because you're expected to score runs and get off strike which is not that easy sometimes when the bowlers are bowling well.

"I think you've got to have a clear idea where your fours are and where your singles are, but most of all you've got to get the ball out towards the boundaries and then you've got the option of runnings twos. In the women's game, the team that runs the most twos is often the winner."

England's 138-6 looked a decent score - indeed, it was one run more than the total made by Northants on my previous visit to the ground for a Twenty20 Cup match against Somerset last summer - and there was one six to enjoy as all-rounder Jenny Gunn cleared the rope at long-on.

"We didn't hit as many boundaries outside the powerplays as we'd have liked, but that's something we can work on" was Edwards's verdict on the batting performance.

South Africa aren't at the same level as England, Australia, New Zealand and India, and never looked likely to threaten the target after losing two wickets in the first three overs of their reply.

England are a team in the true sense of the word, united in their determination to achieve a common goal, but there was absolutely no doubt about who was calling the shots as Edwards cajoled and encouraged her young charges.

Even in the final over when the game was already long since over as a contest, England's fielders were still diving and scampering around in the outfield to try and keep the South African score down - and the result was .

It is that work ethic, established by the captain, which will stand England in good stead next year, and should also get the crowds who go to watch behind them.

"I like the added pressure of them all looking to me and hopefully I can show them the right way. I'm hard on them, but I'm also really fair with them and I think they respect me because of that.

"I'm the first one to give them a pat on the back but I'm also the first one to give them a kick up the bum when they need it. They've reacted really well to me so far, and hopefully that will continue," said Edwards.

"These girls have got a massive opportunity in the next year to play at some fantastic venues. It's exciting for us, but how the girls are playing at the moment is even more exciting. I've got a huge amount of confidence in every one of them."