By Clare Taylor England women's cricket team

Losing Lucy Pearson was the biggest disappointment of our week in Jersey.

Her injury was worse than first thought, so she was flown back to the mainland for an x-ray, which revealed a stress fracture in her right lower leg.

With the squad down to 13, Laura Spragg was brought into the starting line-up for the game against the Kiwis last Friday.

They had skittled out the Indians for 26 in their first game, so our encounter was set up nicely.

Unfortunately, the weather had not read the script and a constant light drizzle gave us two points each for an abandoned game.

Mandie Godliman: Never trust her with a map

Our football skills are coming along nicely with all the interruptions, and Laura Newton, Charlotte Edwards and Claire Taylor can now boast the squad heading record of 20.

An impromptu trivial pursuit game in the pavilion saw "South Island" win and "South of England" come second - although playing the Kiwis version of the game is a distinct disadvantage.

To maintain fitness some players chose to run back to the hotel but Mandie Godliman's map reading skills are not to be recommended as a 20-minute run soon turned into a 50-minute marathon.

We sampled a little Jersey nightlife which gave me the opportunity to catch up with former Otago stage team mate Rachel Pullar and get all the gossip from Dunedin.

TV date

Back at Gatwick, the plan on arrival was for Clare Connor and myself to go to Lord's to see the conclusion of the NatWest Series final, then onto BBC TV Centre to take part in the Sport Relief evening.

The flight was delayed by two hours, so that put paid to the visit to Lord's. We were staying at the same hotel as the England men's team and the downcast faces appearing in reception told their own story.

The Sport Relief evening was a great success, although our promised slot didn't materialise, so I'd had my hair done for nothing.

We flew up to Newcastle on Sunday morning, then drove to Durham to meet up with the rest of the squad who had driven up the day before.

Sharing our flight was Shay Given, the Newcastle goalkeeper, returning from a well earned rest after the World Cup.

We need to raise our game for the final

A four hour training session soon wiped away all the cobwebs, with Spraggy collecting the most bruises for the day with a grand total of four.

Durham is a beautiful city with quaint cobbled streets and the Cathedral and Castle dominating the skyline. The Racecourse Ground is an idyllic setting - backed on one side the river - and was the setting for our match with the Kiwis on Tuesday.

The sun made a welcome appearance as we elected to bat. We were soon brought back down to earth after our victory against India, crumbling to 111 all out and without two very gutsy blows from Laura and Isa Guha it would have been a lot worse.

Emily Drumm played a captain's innings of 63 to secure victory in the 30th over, so with an early finish we took the opportunity for some extra practice in the nets.

New Zealand's win over India on Wednesday meant we were in the final, but we know we will have to raise our game to beat them.