Women's Ashes: England's Sarah Glenn on nails, social media and being a positive influence

Sarah Glenn has a problem.

It is the day she is due to join her England team-mates on a flight to Australia for the Women's Ashes.

She's stressed at the amount she has packed. There might not be room for her nail bar.

This might sound trivial, but it's important to the leg-spinner the England team call 'The Glamour' and strikes to the heart of her message about the image of female athletes, acceptance and body confidence.

"Outside of cricket I like to have a proper dress-up, to do my nails and things like that," the 22-year-old tells BBC Sport. "It might not be as common in cricket, but I love doing it.

"We want to get more women and girls into cricket. They might want to wear their make-up and their nails, but they are seeing some of us get hate for it. I don't want that to put them off.

"I want them to see you can be yourself, regardless of the sport you're playing."

When Glenn takes the ball in the first T20 of the Women's Ashes on Thursday, she will no doubt illuminate the Adelaide Oval with the nail art that is just as big a part of her on-field attire as the number three on the back of her shirt.

She is likeable, thoughtful and aware of the public platform that comes with being an international sportswoman. To flick through her Twitter account is to see matters pertaining to mental health, contraception and women's safety.

Her 41,000 followers on Instagram and near-12,000 fans on TikTok will see Glenn mix posts about cricket with her penchant for glamming up. Inevitably, the reaction is not always positive.

"It's the pressure of social media," she says. "Sometimes I get private messages or comments that are quite inappropriate and can make me feel vulnerable or just a bit rubbish.

"It comes in waves. If I post something to do with cricket, there's not much. When I post a picture of me in a dress and heels, I'll get a bit of it.

"When I first played for England there was a picture posted that led to comments about my body image.

"Sometimes they will say 'what are you going to do with those nails' or 'don't mess your hair up'. It does annoy me. What's the problem wearing make-up when you play sport?

"Just the other day I had a guy comment on a load of my pictures, saying 'why are you wearing that, why are you wearing make-up, why have you got nails on, why are you playing cricket?' Really random comments."

Crucially, Glenn, who has won 33 caps in limited-overs cricket since making her international debut in 2019, is comfortable and accepted in the England dressing-room.

"I really feel I can be myself with the England girls," she says. "They love that part of me. It's refreshing to them and it's a bit different. They have told me that and it means so much."

At the end of the one-day series against New Zealand in September, which England won 4-1, home skipper Heather Knight and counterpart Sophie Devine were given the Glenn glamour treatment.

"I love dressing someone else up," says Glenn. "I said to Heather 'if we win the series, can I do your hair and make-up'? I knew Sophie Devine anyway, so I asked her if she fancied getting dressed up with the England captain.

"They came to my room, I gave them outfit options, earrings, hair and make-up. Heather loved it. She rocked the look.

"I'll try to convince her to do it again if we win the Ashes."

Not content with using social media to influence perceptions of women's sport, Glenn is already looking to her post-playing career for ways in which she can help others.

She is two years into a sports science degree, with the third year on hold during a 2022 that sees the Ashes followed by the Women's World Cup and a Commonwealth Games T20 tournament.

Her brother creates mobile apps, her father works in software development and Glenn is also taking an interest.

"I'd love to help other people with what I'm going through now," she says.

"A lot of girls don't feel safe in bigger environments. We're seeing it with drinks being spiked in nightclubs, but it might also be in gyms, where some women aren't comfortable when there is a lot of people.

"I've thought it would be quite cool to set up a girls-only gym, a safer environment, a place where they can build up their courage before going somewhere else."

Glenn's outlook is typical of an England dressing-room full of rounded characters who have a life beyond cricket.

Lauren Winfield-Hill has her own fitness coaching business, Sophia Dunkley is a keen photographer and Kate Cross is a successful podcaster.

Before cricket, Glenn was home-schooled until she did her A-Levels. She was good enough at hockey to play at junior levels for England, with a concussion issue playing its part in her eventual decision to focus on cricket.

Now, in the multi-format series, she will form a key part of England's attack in the white-ball matches as Heather Knight's side look to win the Ashes for the first time in eight years - only team-mate Sophie Ecclestone is above Glenn in the world T20 bowling rankings.

Still, for Glenn, cricket will only ever form one part of who she is.

"I always find that I'm playing better if I have something else on the side, if cricket isn't the only thing I'm doing," she says.

"It's popular to be an influencer. I don't want to just be a stereotypical influencer, but a positive influence to girls that you can be yourself."

The Glamour is a superstar.