England captain Heather Knight and Trent Rockets all-rounder Nat Sciver are set to return to action in West Indies next month.
Knight missed out on the Commonwealth Games and The Hundred after having surgery on her hip.
Sciver, meanwhile, hasn’t played since the Rockets’ eliminator defeat versus Southern Brave, in which she scored 72* and nearly guided her side to an unlikely victory, after taking a break from the sport to prioritise her mental health.
Both are set to return to the Three Lions’ squads for the tour to the Caribbean as preparations for the T20 World Cup in February continue to take shape.
"It feels like it's been a long old rehab but I've just come good the last couple of weeks and am getting back to pretty much full training now," said Knight.
"Fielding has probably been the one thing that's been a little bit niggly and a little bit of pain, but I've had a really good couple of days so I'm fit to go to the West Indies, which is great.
"It's certainly been a tough grind, particularly the last month trying to get back into it and all the rehab you have to do. I don't think you realise until you've gone through a serious injury the sort of hard work you have to do on a day-to-day basis to try and get back.
"I'm really grateful for the support I've had from the medical team. They've been outstanding and got me in a position that, obviously, I had to work very hard to get to, but a position where I could get back playing for England.
“I feel like I've lost a bit of time and I'm ready to get out there and get back playing cricket."
Knight will be looking to make up for that lost time in South Africa during the T20 World Cup, before leading England into a home Ashes series in June and July of next year.
The clash between the oldest rivals of the sport includes an historic five-day Test at Trent Bridge, which Knight has already hailed as a ‘special moment’.
And after an agonising semi-final defeat in the Commonwealth Games on home soil, Knight and her charges will be gunning for silverware across the 2023 summer.
"The Commonwealths certainly were a disappointment but you've got to remember you lost a T20 semi-final by four runs, one that could have easily gone our way, and then you're in a gold-medal match," Knight said.
"There's a lot of things we could have done better, but it's also remembering the good things we've done and it's not the end of the world. We've had a lot of success in T20s.
"That experience will be great for them, they know what it's about, they know the different pressures of tournament cricket and how it can affect you and how you can deal with that and hopefully take it forward into the World Cup.
"The girls winning that T20 series against India was brilliant, with the side we had. I think we had an average age of maybe 23 or 24, so a really good achievement to beat India 2-1 in that series after the Commonwealths."
With Knight expected to return alongside Sciver, new England Head Coach Jon Lewis is able to add an abundance of experience to the wealth of exciting youngsters already on show.
Having made her Three Lions debut in 2010, Knight is well placed to acknowledge the changing landscape of women’s cricket in her time on the field.
With tournaments cropping up around the world and the international schedule becoming increasingly packed, Knight praised Sciver for her decision to take a step back and prioritise her health.
"It's a really good and brave decision by her," said Knight. "I still think it's a tough decision but people like Nat taking time out and being very open with reasons, it's only a good thing.
"It's also a bit of an eye-opener to try and not let it get to that stage for a lot of players and making sure that we're doing everything we can and managing ourselves better to try and not get to that stage.
“We have a lot of support medically to try and do that as well, but certainly it's a topic that people are more comfortable talking about, in my experience, and being a bit more willing to be vulnerable when things are tough and you need to take that time.
"As franchise cricket increases and the amount of international cricket that we have increases, as players we have to find a way to find little pockets to get fresh and I think we're all learning that.
“I think the place Nat got to, where she felt she had to take a break, it's trying to learn and find ways to manage players and support them as best I can as captain, but also decisions above me in terms of workload management and trying to get players that are at their best for England at the right time."
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Trent Bridge will host three international matches in 2023, with the sole Test Match of the Women’s Ashes taking place at Nottinghamshire’s historic home, before England’s men face New Zealand and Ireland in IT20 and ODI contests respectively.
Secure your seats at trentbridge.co.uk/internationals.