Top bracket senior women’s players of England were mulling over ‘country versus club’ on their participation in the forthcoming edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) as their presence in the league would mean absence from 3 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against New Zealand. In a recent interaction, the star English all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt opened up on this dilemma, talking through her decision.
England’s tour of New Zealand kicks off on the 19th of March 2024, a couple of days after the WPL final, scheduled for March 17. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) gave players a free hand to take a call on their availability, and pacer Lauren Bell and skipper Heather Knight were two of seven players who pulled out of the marquee event.
England’s star all-rounder, Nat Sciver-Brunt, admitted her price tag played a part in deciding to be available for the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the 2nd edition of the WPL. Quoting Nat, “Yeah, I mean, I would be lying if I said no. Having obviously gone for that much in the first year, yeah, it certainly came into consideration.
“Hopefully these clashes don’t happen in the future, which I guess will keep the importance of international cricket and keep that focus for everyone… It would be an interesting one, obviously when we get to the latter stages of the tournament, if my team’s in there, how it’ll feel when England is playing and I’m not there.”
Mumbai Indians made their biggest buy at the inaugural WPL auction, gaining the services of Nat Sciver-Brunt for Rs 3.20 crore, from a base price of Rs 50 lakh. The seasoned campaigner justified her price tag, emerging as an MVP for Mumbai, racking up 332 runs, averaging 66.40, while also scalping 10 wickets, maintaining an economy rate of 7.12, from 10 WPL games.
On her all-round heroics throughout the season, including the final where she led the scoring with a mature 55-ball 60* on a tricky wicket, Nat said, “Obviously with a big price tag, that does add another layer to it, but last year I was lucky that I was in quite a good place in my cricket, so I didn’t have to think too much about the performance side of it and just naturally let it happen.”
The forthcoming edition of the WPL gets underway on the 23rd of February, 2024, with defending champions Mumbai Indians going up against Delhi Capitals, a rematch of the 2023 WPL final. Post 1st leg games of WPL in Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, the action will move to Delhi for the 2nd leg, including the eliminator and Final.
(Quotes sourced from ESPN)