Maia Bouchier is targeting a spot in the World Cup opener following an impressive winter season

Maia Bouchier has set her sights on cementing her new-found status at the top of England's batting order ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September.

Bouchier, 25, enjoyed a breakthrough winter on England's recent tour of New Zealand. She capitalised on the late arrival of several senior players from the Women's Premier League in India, including the incumbent opener Danni Wyatt and senior batter Nat Sciver-Brunt, to make a strong case for a permanent role.

Having previously played exclusively in the middle order in her limited opportunities over the previous two years, Bouchier was first promoted to open during Sri Lanka's visit last summer. She demonstrated her ability to complement Sciver-Brunt's century in the third ODI in Leicester with a career-best 95 from 65 balls.

Given England's main focus for the year, it was Bouchier's performance in March, in the 4-1 series win in the T20Is against New Zealand, that truly stood out. In the first three matches, she batted at No. 3, scoring 43 not out, 12, and 71. In the fourth match, she was promoted to open and scored a series-sealing 91 from 56 balls.

Bouchier's performance was the result of a well-established run in the team, a trajectory that had been anticipated by England's head coach, Jon Lewis, when she was selected ahead of the more experienced Tammy Beaumont despite the latter's impressive performance in the Hundred. Lewis cited Bouchier's impressive international performance as the reason for her selection. Her limited opportunities to demonstrate her abilities in 19 T20Is since her debut in 2021 indicated a lack of opportunity to prove her worth.

She has now demonstrated her capabilities, outperforming both Beaumont and Dunkley in New Zealand. She is now ready to be considered for the role of opening batsman for the World Cup. This was reiterated last week by captain Heather Knight, who praised Bouchier's performance in New Zealand while acknowledging that England "have not yet fully identified" their opening partnership.

England's summer schedule includes home series against Pakistan in May and New Zealand in June-July, followed by the Hundred, where Bouchier will once again be playing for the defending champions, Southern Brave. England will face a challenging transition to the pitches in Bangladesh. The team is confident that its batting unit has improved its performance against spin, a significant area of weakness last year, both in the Ashes and in the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

Bouchier was speaking at the launch of the MCC Foundation Hubs tournament in Leyton, a competition involving more than 100 girls' and boys' teams competing for the chance to appear in a Lord's final.

The programme has already reached more than 20,000 state school children since its launch in 2012, and recently received a £1 million funding boost from MCC and the ECB. With 126 hubs already established, the objective is to reach the 150th location by next year.