Outgoing England women’s coach Mark Lane believes a superb collective effort lay at the root of his successful reign.
Lane was honoured by UK Sport as coach of the year and high-performance coach of the year in 2009 after England won two ICC tournaments - the World Cup and World Twenty20 - while also inflicting an Ashes defeat and one-day international whitewash on Australia.
That phenomenal run came after Lane inherited a side ranked fifth in the world in April 2008; he leaves with England firmly established as one of the global game’s leading lights despite losing their ICC titles.
The 45-year-old credits the efforts made at every level of the English game, from grassroots upwards, for driving this progress.
“The past and present players I've been involved with, the past and present physios and coaches; they've all contributed to taking the women's game to where it is today,” Lane told ecb.co.uk.
“We've gone (from) the fifth-best team in the world to the most feared team in the world. And that's not just through the on-field stuff.
“It's the off-field stuff - the support that the ECB board have put into women's cricket and obviously things like Chance to Shine, raising the awareness of cricket. There's more girls playing the game now globally, not just in England.
“Myself, I've played a small part in that and I'd like to make sure that everyone I've worked with and alongside gets a mention really because without those guys - I particularly look after 16 players but there's many thousands of players out there who make a massive contribution.”
Perhaps it is the case that Lane’s own contribution will be remembered more than the man himself is truly comfortable with, although that is hardly surprising when statistics such as 89 wins from 114 limited-overs internationals under his tutelage are brought to the fore.
The Hampshire man is happy to accept that 2009’s exploits will be looked up as a golden period for many years.
“2009 will obviously be a very, very special period, winning both global tournaments and retaining the Ashes out in Bowral,” Lane said. “There's many, many highlights but they're the obvious ones winning trophies.
“Beating the Australians in a whitewash, winning the quad series over here without losing a game was very special as well. Just participating in all these global tournaments. So we've had some really, really good times.
“Winning the 50-over World Cup has to be very, very special. Going over there with a very talented group of players and delivering; that was the key.
“Beating New Zealand in the final was a great day at the North Sydney Oval. Winning anything in Australia is always special but particularly winning that World Cup was very, very special for us all.”