THE New Year offers new and interesting prospects for a female Bolton cricketer with the world at her fingertips.

Nalisha Patel, aged 18 and from Great Lever, has progressed each year since she first began playing the sport at 11.

Now, she is among Lancashire’s most successful female spin bowlers and is hoping for a memorable 2017.

“I’ve not played much recently,” explained Nalisha, “so I’m looking forward to getting back to the nets and getting into training in January.”

The reason for this “distraction” from cricket is because Nalisha started a psychology degree at Leeds University in September and has been fitting any training around her course.

Not that Nalisha’s studies have dimmed her hopes in the sport. Far from it.

The Lancashire first women’s team regular is on the brink of England selection – “there or thereabouts” is how she modestly puts it.

But her teammates at Lancashire Thunder in the women’s Superleague and those at Horwich RMI Cricket Club where she started her competitive cricket, appreciate the talented spin bowler’s undoubted skills.

Nalisha first began playing by chance after watching, bored, from the sidelines as her older brother, Suneet, played at Bolton Indian Cricket Club in Darcy Lever.

One day, the coach asked the 10 year-old if she would like to have a go, and her aptitude quickly got her noticed.

Her improving skills took her to the Horwich club’s established junior set-up, where she was the only girl, and soon caught the eye of Lancashire County Cricket Club.

She started playing for Lancashire’s under 11s and in the same year for the under 13s.

Nalisha then captained the under 17s when Lancashire won the Royal London Girls Under 17 County Cup in 2015.

She was a pupil at Bolton School at the same time as England’s latest cricket star Haseeb Hameed, balancing her studies with the three times weekly Winter trips to the Old Trafford indoor training centre.

Now, her training will be fitted around her university work and she admits that she enjoys having the sport “as a balance away from studies”.

Nalisha is also an accomplished badminton player and turned out regularly for Bolton Lads and Girls Club’s teams in the Bolton Badminton League – “but it’s hard to play another sport regularly so I’m restricted to the occasional game for fun now.”

Her accolades with Lancashire cricket and elsewhere include being voted the County’s Girl Player of the Year, receiving a Bolton Sports’ Achievers Award as well as being jointly named Woman in Cricket at the Talk Home Mobile Asian Cricket Awards earlier this year.

In the seven or so years since Nalisha has been a county player, Lancashire’s female cricket squads have grown significantly and were enhanced by the high profile and achievements of the women’s national side.

Nalisha is one of three spin bowlers in the Lancashire first team which claimed the majority of wickets during the last season.

“There tends not to be super-fast bowlers in women’s cricket like there are in the men’s game,” she added.

“So spin bowling can be particularly effective.

“I have the same trouble myself with spin from other bowlers!”

In fact, she did consider taking a gap year and going to play cricket in Australia or New Zealand.

“Spin works particularly well in hotter conditions because the ground is dry – as we’ve seen in the recent England Test in India – so that helps improve techniques.