Having been a member of the Durham Academy, Danielle Hazell transferred to Yorkshire at the start of the 2008 season. Her talents had already been recognised in April that year when, 12 months before her call-up to the international side, she was awarded one of the first-ever ECB contracts for women in conjunction with Chance to Shine: out of eight contracts awarded, she was the only uncapped player among them.

She was called up into the England squad for the 2009 World Twenty20 after Anya Shrubsole was ruled out with a back injury, but did not make her debut until November 2009 against West Indies. Blessed with the ability to deceive batsmen with her pace and flight, she quickly emerged as England's premier spin bowler, and achieved the number one ICC bowling ranking in women's T20Is in early 2014. This was epitomised by her performance at the Rose Bowl in August 2013 during the Ashes series when, in the last over of Australia's innings, she took three wickets in the first three balls, paving the way for an England series victory.

Though primarily a bowler, she has also demonstrated her all-round abilities at England level: she was at the crease in the 2012 Twenty20 final when, coming in at 9, her 16 off 13 balls brought England within touching distance of the trophy, only to fall short by 5 runs.

She was mystifyingly left out of the ODI and Test squads against Australia in the summer of 2015, but returned for the T20s and did well enough to earn a spot in the World Twenty20 squad in 2016. Though she sustained an injury during the tournament and was forced to return home after England's first group game, she was back to full fitness by the start of the 2016 domestic season and featured in the T20 series against Pakistan. Raf Nicholson