England women good enough to retain trophy

England It will be tough to retain the trophy but the team are capable of winning under pressure. The biggest challenge will be that England are playing out of season and haven't had the best winter, losing in the West Indies and in the one-day international (50-over) format in India.

However, those tours were great opportunity for some young graduates from the England Women's Academy to break into the squad and the India tour concluded with victory in the Twenty20 series which put great momentum and confidence into the squad, which will be boosted by the return of Holly Colvin, Claire Taylor and Sarah Taylor for this tournament.

Claire has been a rock for the team for a number of years and it will be exciting to see how she does after a winter off. Having won the Player of the Tournament at the World Cup and World Twenty20 last year, all eyes will be on her.

Claire Taylor is back to add experience and quality to England's batting line-up

Charlotte Edwards will continue to lead from the front, providing valuable runs to keep the girls on track, and Katherine Brunt, the spearhead of the attack, will be fired up and can, with her passion, inspire the team to try and repeat their successes of 2009.

Of the newer faces, my pick for the one to watch is Danny Hazell. I mentioned her in my blogs from India and I think her talent and no-fear-of-failure attitude could bring her to the fore as a match-winner. If it doesn't happen on this tour, it will in the near future.

West Indies My wildcard choice. Although they are currently only ranked fifth in the world, they have home advantage, lots of confidence after beating England and have had plenty of match practice leading up to the tournament.

They have players who could be dangerous in this format, including Pamela Lavine and Deandra Dottin and especially Stafanie Taylor, a seriously talented cricketer, who averages 47 and has a strike rate of 122.25 in Twenty20 cricket and took eight wickets in the recent three-game series against Sri Lanka.

She has the ability to turn games by scoring quickly and aggressively or by taking wickets and should not be underestimated.

Australia They are always in the mix to win and play a tough and exciting brand of cricket. Although Karen Rolton has retired, they still have a number of experienced players in the ranks who know how to bring games home for their side and although they are missing their leader in Jodie Fields, they are in a strong position after their recent ODI series win against New Zealand.

It's hard to single out an individual, but I am going to go for Shelley Nitschke, who is a class player and offers a lot with bat and ball. She chalked up plenty of runs against the Kiwis in the Rose Bowl series including an innings of 113 not out which will certainly stand her in good stead.

New Zealand Another strong unit, who made it to the World Cup and Twenty20 finals last year. More recently, they managed to beat Australia 5-0 in a T20 series but the Aussies came back with a clean sweep in the one-dayers, so it's difficult to predict how they will play.

They have some big-hitting batters like Aimee Watkins, Nicola Browne and Suzie Bates and if they fire, could be very difficult to handle.

Aimee Watkins (centre) hopes New Zealand can go one better than last year

Lucy Doolan is an all-rounder who plays with ease and freedom and although she has just returned from injury, she will relish being back on the big stage. Sophie Devine, meanwhile, is not only a top quality opening bowler - she recently hit 72 off 84 balls against Australia, which shows how handy she can be down the order.

India They have the current number one bowler (Jhulan Goswami) and batter (Mithali Raj) in the women's game and pushed England close in the recent T20 series in India, so it will be interesting to see how they approach the tournament.

The talent they possess suggests they are capable of taking home the trophy, but hey haven't done much on the global stage in recent years.

Harmanpreet Kaur is an attacking batter who made 84 against England and is capable of hitting aggressively over the top - I feel she has a lot more to bring to the table. They also have Gouher Sultana who, for me, is one of the best spinners on the circuit and it's only a matter of time before she is up there at the top of the rankings. She is a very clever bowler, who could win games for India.

South Africa They are in the same group as England, Australia and West Indies and could find it very tough to get through.

They will be determined to make their mark but will have to rely on talented youngsters like 16-year-old Chloe Tyron to support more experienced stars such as Alicia Smith and Cri-Zelda Brits to give them a chance of winning games.

West Indies beat them 3-0 recently so it will be interesting to see if they are able to raise their game.

Pakistan An upcoming team, who have defeated Sri Lanka and West Indies to establish themselves as an emerging force. The tournament will be tough for them too, but it will be a good chance to see how they are improving.

Sri Lanka Although they are underdogs, they have had lots of practice in the recent series against West Indies, although they were on the wrong end of a clean sweep. New Zealand and India look too strong for them, but it will be interesting to see how they go against Pakistan.