Michael Vaughan is not the only England captain with the all-conquering Australians in his sights.

Clare Connor, from Brighton, is also planning to knock the Aussies off their perch in a year's time when the world's best women's team arrive here at the same time as Ricky Ponting is putting the Ashes on the line.

But like Vaughan's team, England's women cricketers have work to do before they can start thinking about toppling the Australians and becoming the best in the world at what they do.

Connor will lead England in a World Cup for the first time in South Africa next March, but her immediate priority is the series with New Zealand.

It may have been only 28 years ago this week that women were allowed to play at Lord's for the first time, but they will steal a march on the men tonight by playing the Kiwis in the first-ever Twenty20 international match at the County Ground, Hove, today (5.40pm).

A five match one-day series, which begins at the County Ground tomorrow, is followed by a one-off Test and success for England would see them overtake the Kiwis into second place in the world rankings behind Australia.

First things first and Connor says her team are relishing the opportunity to make a little bit of history tonight.

England have prepared well for their first experience of Twenty20. Coach Richard Bates organised two warm-up games in The Midlands recently while Sussex, led by Connor, were 'rewarded' for retaining their County Championship title in Cambridge last week by facing the Kiwis in a Twenty20 game last Friday.

They fell 47 runs short of the tourists' total of 150, but after five successive matches earlier in the week, Connor admits there were some tired limbs in the Sussex side which affected their fielding performance.e no excuse tonight, however. The 14-strong squad were joined by eight members of the Sussex Academy for two more practice games on Tuesday. No wonder Connor believes England should be regarded as slight favourites.

"We have prepared pretty well," she said. "We had some regional games earlier in the summer which gave us a taste for it and then we played Loughborough Grammar School and Notts Trent College because we felt playing women's teams wouldn't stretch us enough.

"Tuesday was about slotting players into particular roles and it went well. Playing Twenty20 is another step forward for women's cricket. We'll have all the razzamatazz you see at the men's matches with music and the lights and hopefully it will attract a bit of a crowd."

Connor and her opposite number Maia Lewis, as well as the umpires, will be miked-up so they can talk to the commentators. The action is being televised live by Sky Sports.

"The cricket won't be as explosive as the men," said Connor. "Obviously we won't be smacking the ball all over the place. But I think a run a ball would be competitive."

Connor admits her hardest job will be leaving out three players from a squad she regards as one of the strongest since she took over as captain in 2000.

Look out for Sussex team-mate Rosalie Birch, who made such an impact with bat and ball when England won in South Africa during the winter, and Lydia Greenaway, a 19-year-old batter from Kent with a big future.

"Picking the final 11 isn't an easy task at the moment, there will be some tough decisions to make," added Connor. "But that's what we want, it reflects on the quality there is in the squad."

Connor will have been in the job for five years when the Australians arrive next summer, but her commitment to the job remains as strong as ever.

"I'm really enjoying it still," she said. "Tactically, I've got a lot better in the last 18 months. Richard has been a lot of help with that and so does captaining Sussex.

"I'm taking it series by series, but the World Cup next year is a great challenge. But the priority is to go there ranked as the second best team in the world and for that to happen we have to beat New Zealand."

Connor's cricketing commitments, her flourishing TV career on Channel 4's coverage of the international game and occasional journalism with a Sunday newspaper means she won't return to her teaching job at Brighton College until September 2005 at the earliest.

Nothing would please her more than to walk back into the classroom as captain of the best women's team in the world.

"I do miss teaching - my colleagues and the kids," she admitted. "But I know that it will always be there for me, whereas opportunities to play in a World Cup won't."