SARAH TAYLOR, 30

Record-breaking British cricketer who achieved the highest individual score against Australia by an Englishwoman

I’d give my body a seven out of 10.

I don’t know many women who are 100% confident with their bodies, but I’m quite happy with mine. I’d like to be a bit leaner and my boobs to be a bit bigger, but considering I’m coming out of rehab for my hip and only just going back into full training, it could be worse.

Athletes should show off their bodies more. We’ve worked really hard to excel in our disciplines and should be proud of the bodies we’ve created to do that. I train between four and five hours a day, six days a week. It might sound weird, but because I’m a wicket keeper, I’m most proud of my hands. They’ve helped me set multiple records and I’ve not broken any fingers yet, which is quite impressive. My hips don’t really work properly. In fact, the worst thing I probably could have done for them is play sport. The sockets are quite shallow, so my hip bones don’t move around smoothly, and I’ve got a tear in each one. I’m constantly in pain, but then very few sportspeople are totally pain-free. Everyone gets niggles now and then, but you work through them. The end result is worth it.

The best compliment I’ve ever received about my body is that my bum looks good in anything. I think that might be the sole reason they keep me wicket keeping! Even so, I was nervous about stripping off for the shoot. I don’t really like being the centre of attention, but I know it’ll be one of those things I’ll look back on and be proud of.

It takes sacrifice and an element of selfishness to get your body to perform in a certain way. I think sometimes, as women, we struggle to prioritise ourselves – life takes over and we’re so busy looking after other people that we forget to look after ourselves. But if you want to achieve a certain body, you do need to put yourself first.