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Nat Sciver-Brunt, arguably the best all-around player in the women’s game, has a surprising admission. This stands in stark contrast to the calmness she embodies on and off the field.
No nerves were evident when she scored the fastest century in women’s Test cricket late last year, nor when she scored a century in the 2022 World Cup final. In conversations with her England teammates past and present, one word is always used to describe her: “Calm.”
However, speaking to Telegraph sport From her hotel room in Australia, where she is playing in the Women’s Ashes, she admits: “I’m always nervous every time I go to bat, whether there’s one person watching or a big crowd.
“I’m pretty stable in general and I don’t rise too high or too low in life. I guess it will partly depend on a bit of personality. Maybe at first I was trying to make it seem like my body language showed that I was there and ready to confront you.
“But I don’t think about it too much now, I just try to focus on myself and get myself in a good headspace to be able to start my innings and then continue afterwards if I get through this period.”
Sciver-Brunt – who, as the daughter of an ambassador, was born in Tokyo and raised in Poland and then the Netherlands, where she first discovered cricket – hopes that the calm on the field l will help during the next period. his life.
“The next step will be different”
In September, she and her wife Katherine, a former England cricketer, announced in a joint Instagram post that they were expecting a baby. The news came after she spoke about freezing her own eggs ahead of the 2024 international summer, sparking conversations about fertility and motherhood in the England dressing room.
Katherine retired from international cricket in May 2023 and has since taken up a position in the commentary box, but will leave Australia during the T20 leg of the Ashes as she approaches her due date.
When asked about motherhood ahead, Sciver-Brunt is aware of how life will change: “[The pregnancy] it’s going pretty well. I’m a little worried, I guess. The next step will be different.
No England player has ever taken to the field as both a professional cricketer and a mother, but that will change this year.
“I imagine it’s going to be quite tricky and we’ll have to figure out quickly how to adapt,” Sciver-Brunt says. “I’m quite flexible and adaptable and have a good level, so I hope it won’t be too stressful. But obviously there are so many things – even when the baby is born – that could distract you, so we’ll see what happens.
The personal changes had a remarkably positive impact on Sciver-Brunt’s career. In 2022, she retired from cricket to prioritize her mental health, focused on domestic life and withdrew from the home series against India. But when she returned home, she had a record-breaking 2023 and was named Wisden’s women’s cricketer of the year.
Since his marriage, his average in one-day international cricket has increased from 45.86 to 62.75, in T20 from 28.90 to 39.46 and in test matches from 47.88 to 78.50, but he remains to see how motherhood will affect her cricket.
Before that, however, there is the challenge of trying to return to the Ashes in Australia for the first time in a decade, with Sciver-Brunt’s form crucial to the tourists’ hopes of success.
“It’s being able to deliver in the moment”
Ever since Charlotte Edwards and England won the 2013-14 Ashes, Australia has dominated the women’s cricket landscape. Over the past 11 years, they have won one Cricket World Cup, three T20 World Cups, three Ashes and even Commonwealth Games gold. On the other hand, England won only one victory in the 2017 World Cup.
Central contracts for women’s players were first introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board a year after the last Ashes victory, and their current deals are still significantly inferior to Australia’s. There are, however, signs that the tide has started to turn on the pitch. England ended Australia’s decade-long unbeaten run in bilateral 50-over cricket series in 2023, and both teams crashed out of last year’s T20 World Cup early.
Sciver-Brunt expects England to call on that experience of failure when the pressure is on, which is certainly the case now after England lost the first two ODIs of this series.
When asked what was the key to beating Australia, Sciver-Brunt replied: “Drawing on the experiences we had in the T20 World Cup and wanting to put a line in the sand by suite, and the work we have accomplished together as a team. group about coming together in times of pressure. Being able to keep your promises when the pressure is on and help your partner will be the big test.
“The series is not just an ODI series, it is not just a T20 and not just a Test match, it is hard-fought for three to four weeks. Being able to continue to attend each game with a positive attitude and be ready to fight will be as difficult as physically getting up for a game.
About Test cricket, she adds: “It’s an exhausting four days and mentally very tiring, but it’s a privilege to be able to play. »
The conclusion of the series will be the pink-ball day-night Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a far cry from Sciver-Brunt’s debut. It was 2013 when, after progressing through the Surrey academy at Epsom College, she played against Pakistan in Louth, Lincolnshire, near the east coast of England – a ground which is not even used for minor counties cricket.
Whether the 100,000-capacity MCG is full or not, you can be sure Sciver-Brunt will have that intriguing cocktail of edginess and calm.
Why Nat Sciver-Brunt is so important to England
Nat Sciver-Brunt has been hailed as the world’s best all-around player, but what makes her so good? Telegraph Sport gets the view from the dressing room and commentary area…
Charlie Dean, England spin bowler
“Nat brings a sense of calm to the group. She’s really level-headed and she brings a different perspective on how cricket is played and almost brings us back to logic a little bit. She leads from the front in the way she plays cricket and she has been doing it for the last five years. Every time you step on the court with Nat, you’re a little bit in awe of the way he plays.
“She’s a really good teammate and she’s always there if you need to chat or if you have a few questions about something you don’t know about because she’s been there so long.
“Whenever there’s an area that maybe exposes one of her strengths, we’re like, ‘She’s going to do well here.’ It’s like trying to predict what she’s going to do next, and then she plays a reverse sweep or something. She’s someone we love to watch beat and she always makes an impact on matches. When she does well, we are in a good position in the match.
Michael Vaughan, former England captain and Telegraph Sport columnist
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a men’s or women’s team, to win in Australia you have to have your best players playing well. There are many, like Sophie Ecclestone, Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont – but look at Nat Sciver-Brunt and she is the world-class performer who could do something special to help England win the Ashes.
“And I think she’ll have to produce some magic for them to get that trophy in their hands.” I don’t see them winning unless Nat does something special. She’s such a good player that she ranks among the best of all players around and Australia fears her.
“We all know in sport that when you have key players and world-class players, the opposition fears them because they are so good they can almost win games single-handedly. The fact that she also bowls and bowls well, she is probably the most sought-after all-rounder in the world, so England have a gem in their team.
Alex Hartley, former English spinner and commentator
“She is so calm that she gives the impression of someone who has everything under control. I guess her cricket explains it: she’s in control. As a character she’s fun, she likes to laugh, but when you get on the field she’s so excited she knows exactly what she has to do, she has these conversations with you.
“I think there is pressure on Nat because when Nat scores more than 50 points, England win 80% of their matches. She is so good that they will win more matches when Nat succeeds. She’s going to be such an important wicketkeeper for Australia. Once you take out the world’s best all-rounder, you’ll feel like you’re sniffing.
“I have played against her often in the nets and in domestic cricket, but she plays in a way that few people do in women’s cricket. She likes to play on the back foot, so you almost play a little fuller, but then she switches to the front foot and hits you on the ground. She is one of the hardest people in the world to play, and you have to be on your game from the first ball.
