ENGLAND World Cup heroine Anya Shrubsole is ready to give Western Storm's Kia Super League title ambitions a massive boost by spearheading their attack against Yorkshire Diamonds at York Cricket Club tomorrow.

Ruled out of Storm's opening two fixtures against Southern Vipers and Loughborough Lightning by a side strain, the 25-year-old pace bowler has responded well to treatment and trained with her team-mates this week.

Providing she comes through a stern fitness test on Friday with no recurrence of the problem, she will make the journey north and, in all likelihood, line-up against Diamonds on Sunday.

Thrust into the media limelight after taking a match-winning 6-46 to help England beat India and lift the World Cup at Lord's last month, Shrubsole has become a talismanic figure in the Storm set-up.

Head coach Trevor Griffin makes no attempt to play down her influence both on and off the field, describing the Bath-born bowler as "a special talent." He said: "Any side in the world would miss a player of Anya's ability.

"She has a great cricket brain and a really good tactical understanding of the game, as well as being an outstanding performer with the ball.

"But her influence does not end there - Anya is just as important for what she offers behind the scenes. She is always prepared to give advice and pass on her knowledge to others and she is really good around the other players."

Regarding her readiness to return to action, Griffin revealed: "Anya has had a really good week. She has trained well and worked hard without any apparent issues and she is heading in the right direction. We'll have a good look at her on Friday before we travel and, if all goes well, I envisage her taking her place in the team on Sunday."

As for the game itself, Griffin is anticipating trial by spin from a Diamonds side adept at taking the pace off the ball and restricting scoring. International spinners Chamari Atapattu and Sune Luus are expected to play on Sunday, while Katie Levick and Hollie Armitage provide further spin options.

"If you analyse the Super League games so far this season, you will notice a trend to take the pace off the ball," explained Griffin. "I'm expecting the Yorkshire Diamonds to come at us with a lot of spin and present us with a different kind of challenge.

"We have some decent spin options of our own and I was pleased with our performance in the field against Loughborough Lightning last weekend. We took the pace off and restricted the scoring and, although it was far from being a perfect performance, it was a lot better than in the opening game (a crushing nine wicket defeat to Southern Vipers). It's not about how you start, but all about how you finish and I'd rather get a poor performance out of the way in the first game and then improve.

"We are coming along nicely and I think there will be a further improvement this weekend. We showed against Loughborough that we could bounce back from a heavy defeat and that win will have given the players a lot of confidence. I'm sure we're heading in the right direction now."