As Nat Sciver-Brunt is named England Women's new captain, we take a look at her illustrious sporting career to date.
See Sciver-Brunt lead out England Women at Trent Bridge on Saturday 28 June. Secure your seats (adults from £20) here...
Born in Japan, a previous resident of Poland and the Netherlands, a childhood footballer and basketballer – and now, a world-class all-rounder and the new captain of England Women.
A highly condensed version of Nat Sciver-Brunt’s life story – that still doesn’t even include her invention of a unique batting shot, the fact she is a World Cup winner, or that she is the first woman to take an IT20 hat-trick for England – still reads like a Hollywood script.
The daughter of a diplomat, she was already a globetrotter in childhood, where she tried out a plethora of sports before settling on cricket as teenager upon her return to the UK, in Surrey.
Perhaps, though, were she to be the subject of a biopic, it would Bollywood who would take most interest.
After all, Sciver-Brunt is fresh off the back of a second Women’s Premier League title – the women’s equivalent of the IPL – in the space of three years, having scored over 1,000 runs and taken 32 wickets for Mumbai Indians since the tournament’s creation in 2023.
She was crowned the PCA Women’s Player of the Year in 2017 and 2022, ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2022 and 2023, and named in the ICC ODI and T20 Teams of the Year in 2023.
That kind of glittering success has tended to be ubiquitous for Sciver-Brunt wherever she has gone. But even despite her considerable roll of team and individual honours, none will quite match a glorious day at the Home of Cricket in July 2017.
Naturally, she top-scored for the Three Lions – captained then by the woman she has now replaced as skipper, Heather Knight – with 51, and made three crucial fielding interventions, helping to guide her country to their most memorable triumph.
Amidst the glory of the trophy lift, however, the moment also provided an emotional microcosm of the trajectory of women’s cricket on these shores.
Sciver-Brunt, who had made her ODI debut four years earlier against Pakistan at Louth Cricket Club in Lincolnshire, was now soaking up the adulation of thousands in front of the packed grandstands of one of the most fabled venues in world cricket.
It was in that tournament, on the way to a barnstorming 129 in just 111 balls against New Zealand, when she skilfully guided a delivery from Kiwi seamer Holly Huddleston through her legs towards the fine leg fence.
In doing so, she created a shot that has since become her signature – the Natmeg.
Entertaining through use of the unexpected has never been far from Sciver-Brunt’s mind when she steps on a cricket field. But it is her mastery of the different disciplines that impresses most.
Most all-rounders, multi-skilled as they are, would admit to having a specialism when pushed; only a select few can truly say their skills are perfectly balanced between bat and ball.
On the evidence, Sciver-Brunt strolls into the latter category, with nine international centuries among her near-7,500 all-format runs for England, alongside 181 wickets at an overall average of 27.81.
Just as her inventive exploits with the bat did, her standout moment with the ball in international cricket also came against New Zealand.
Sciver-Brunt added a hat-trick to her long list of honours against the White Ferns in Barbados in October 2013, during a tri-series that also involved the West Indies.
After contributing 23 with the bat as part of England’s 125-8, Sciver-Brunt stepped up to bowl the penultimate over of New Zealand’s innings, at the midway point of which the chasers required 24 from nine balls with six wickets in hand.
By the end of the over, their hopes were in tatters, as Sciver-Brunt saw Maddy Green caught, bowled Erin Bermingham, and then pinned Frances Mackay lbw to seal the result for the Three Lions.
Winning, often in such dramatic fashion, has turned into a habit. Domestically, Sciver-Brunt’s CV also includes spells across the world with Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers in Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League, alongside Trent Rockets in The Hundred.
Closer to home, a gate at the Oval now bears her name, but her connection to the East Midlands stretches back many years too, and she has donned the colours of The Blaze since 2023.
And Nottingham is, as recent history has shown, a highly productive city for rebirths of cricket in England.
The last time an England side in the midst of a rebuild landed on the banks of the Trent, Jonny Bairstow fired a hair-raising century to lead the Three Lions to an unforgettable win under the tutelage of new captain Ben Stokes.
In 2022, Trent Bridge was the cradle of Bazball for England Men, and they too were led by a new head coach, and a captivating all-rounder with a penchant for the unexpected.
With a trailblazer like Sciver-Brunt at the helm, backed up by her long-time international teammate Charlotte Edwards as head coach, the conditions appear well-suited to a similar rejuvenation of the women's side.
What form that will take remains to be seen, but for cricket fans across the world, one thing is for sure - it will be unmissable.
