England’s captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt, says she hopes this will not be her last World Cup, after England lost the final by seven wickets at Lord’s on Sunday.
- Nat Sciver-Brunt battled a calf injury during the World Cup, missed games, yet struck half-centuries in both the semi-final and final, showing resilience and emotion.
- Charlotte Edwards praised England progress, warned a squad review is coming, suggesting changes and more opportunities for younger players.
- Sophie Molineux hailed triumph; the tournament reportedly set attendance records at the T20 World Cup, marking a major moment for women’s cricket.
England were outplayed by a classy Australian side, led by a half-century from Beth Mooney, and an emotional Sciver-Brunt broke down in tears as she reflected on the match.
“I don’t want it to be my last World Cup,” she said. “I’m living day by day at the moment. Family is everything. The support we get from our families, our team, our supporters, it all just means so much – that’s why the emotions are high.”
Sciver-Brunt has battled with a calf injury throughout the tournament and has carried a heavy burden throughout, juggling captaincy with being England’s best batter, striking half-centuries in both the semi-final and final.
“Trying to nurse an injury during a World Cup hasn’t been fun,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to try and remain positive around the group and not let on too much how I’m feeling. Missing those games were pretty tough. I just tried to do everything I could do to not be too disruptive coming back.”
“I surprised myself a bit coming into back in that semi-final and being able to redo what I did. I’m really proud of what I was able to do.”
England’s head coach, Charlotte Edwards, said she was “really proud” of the progress England have made over the past 15 months, but added that she would be reviewing the squad personnel at the end of the summer. Heather Knight and the Danni Wyatt-Hodge, both 35 years old, were two of England’s best-performing batters in the tournament, but there is also a feeling that England may need to bring in fresh blood in order to close the gap with Australia.
“There’s a lot of younger players in this team now that are staking a claim,” Edwards said. “We need to have a look at the team. We obviously stuck with a lot of our older players for this tournament and they’ve rewarded us well. That’s something for the end of the summer to have a look at and see where we are as a side.”
Sophie Molineux, who won her first World Cup as captain after succeeding Alyssa Healy in January this year, expressed her satisfaction at having defied expectations to triumph at Lord’s.
“It’s been the most amazing day,” she said. “When I took over I was a bit messy at the start. Captaining a couple of games and then getting injured – shock. There were a few doubts internally. But what I’ve learned over my journey so far is you have to keep believing.”
The tournament is thought to have broken all records for attendance at a T20 World Cup, with a sellout crowd at Lord’s to witness Sunday’s final. “It’s another extremely important day for women’s cricket in this country. To play a part in that is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Edwards said.
