The air of camaraderie and authenticity on the July 10, 2025, episode of The Cricketer’s Under The Lid Podcast broke new ground for women’s cricket storytelling. Hosted by Jack Brooks, with England’s inspirational captain Nat Sciver-Brunt stepping in as co-host, and India’s supreme batting talent Jemimah Rodrigues as the star guest, the episode offered a rare, intimate look into the hearts and minds of two global icons shaping the future of cricket.
A light-hearted podcast took place amidst the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India’s white-ball tour to England from 28th June 2025 to 22nd July 2025. The visitors, India, recently sealed a historic, their maiden T20I series triumph against England in their backyard, by clinching the 4th T20I by 6 wickets at Manchester to bag the series with a game to go, and the series scoreline currently reads as 3-1 in India’s favour.
Sport often reveals hidden facets of its stars, and Jemimah Rodrigues’s musical journey is one such delightful layer. From her childhood in Mumbai, brimming with restless energy and shadowing her two elder brothers, Jemimah’s story is not just about cricket, but about finding harmony, literally, with a guitar. Inspired by a church musician, she convinced her parents to let her learn, and her guitar quickly became a companion on the long, sometimes lonely tours away from home.
“Everyone connects to music,” Jemimah reflected, recounting improvised and unprompted bus sing-alongs during team travel. The image of her unifying teammates through song shows a leader whose influence stretches far beyond the boundary rope.
In the digital age, athlete celebrity comes with a double-edged sword of adulation and scrutiny. Jemimah’s ascent in the era following India’s nail-biting loss in the 2017 World Cup final—an event that transformed the national conversation around women’s cricket, thrust her into a public spotlight for which there is little preparation.
“Initially, everyone loves you, but the moment you have a dip in form, criticism follows,” Jemimah admitted with characteristic vulnerability. She spoke candidly about struggling with online negativity, drawing strength from a conversation with Virat Kohli, who advised her to avoid social media during tours. Nat Sciver-Brunt echoed these sentiments, sharing how the increased visibility after England’s 2017 World Cup win forced her to develop strategies to block out external noise.
This segment was a masterclass in athlete mental health, offering listeners valuable insight into the emotional costs of fame, especially for young women navigating the glare of both cricket-mad subcontinental audiences and demanding social media landscapes.
For both Jemimah and Nat, cricketing ambition burns brightest around global tournaments. Jemimah’s hunger is palpable: “Of course, World Cup with India. There’s no doubt about that.” Haunted by close calls but driven by the dream, she shared how the heartbreak of near-misses fuels her competitive fire. The desire to “take the team through, to be in that pressure situation and flip the scene around” was a recurring theme.
Nat, reflecting on England’s Ashes victories early in her career, offered a contrasting perspective: she was “just excited to be there” as a newcomer before realising the full weight of expectation that comes with success and seniority.
This intersection of aspiration, disappointment, and resilience is the heart of elite sport, and the podcast’s ability to hold space for these emotions marked it as a remarkable milestone in cricket media.
A highlight of the episode was the genuine admiration both guests displayed for each other on and off the field. England skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt calling Jemimah “the life and soul” of her team (India), and Jemimah rating Nat as “one of the best all-rounders going around,” shed light on a powerful dynamic in the women’s game: fierce competition coexisting with friendship and shared purpose.
The exchanges about WPL team culture, mutual analysis of strengths, and light-hearted memories of playing with and against the Sciver-Brunts brought out the humanity behind the headlines.
Jemimah’s recounting of her early English domestic stints, particularly with Yorkshire Diamonds at the tender age of 18, was one of the podcast’s most touching moments. Wrestling with loneliness and culture shock, she found solace in the kindness of teammates and the independence earned through doing her own laundry and helping with preparing for the cooking, small but transformative details that signal profound personal growth.
Her gratitude to her English sides, Yorkshire Diamonds and Northern Superchargers, underscored how these overseas forays shaped not just her cricket but her worldview and resilience.
No episode featuring Jemimah would be complete without a musical flourish. From assembling a cross-border WPL band (with Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryce and Arundhati Reddy) to creating viral covers that delighted fans both in India and abroad, Jemimah’s artistry brings joy and relatability to global audiences. The camaraderie and creativity shown in these musical collaborations reflect the inclusive, dynamic spirit powering women’s cricket’s current rise.
She also shared her love for the sport of hockey, revealing an intriguing fact that she represented her state hockey teams before she did the same for cricket, and how she still keeps herself in touch with the sport by brushing and refining her hockey skills now and again, which also eventually ends up adding unique abilities in her cricket repetoa.
UnderTheLid’s July 2025 episode is a template for modern women’s cricket storytelling, one that foregrounds personality, vulnerability, and ambition. The candid exchanges between Jack Brooks, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and Jemimah Rodrigues brought forth not just tactics and triumphs, but the unseen emotional journeys that define today’s global female cricketers.
For women’s cricket fans, old and new, this podcast is a must-listen, a testament to how women’s sport is writing its own compelling script, powered by stars who dare to dream, create, and connect, both on the pitch and far beyond.
(Inputs from The Cricketer’s UnderTheLid Podcast)
Loves all things female cricket