England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt expressed frustration that Rita Ora's scheduled performance ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 final disrupted the team's preparation. The singer, 35, was set to perform on the main outfield at Lord's between 2.30pm and 3pm BST, directly overlapping with the time teams typically mark their bowling run-ups and practice on the square.
Preparations Clash with Concert
Both England and Australia were initially told they would be banned from the main outfield during the concert and forced to prepare on the smaller Lord's Nursery Ground. Sciver-Brunt, 33, revealed that there were 'a few chins down' when the squad learned of the conflict, as her bowlers prefer using the actual match-adjacent tracks over the net-heavy training ground. Following complaints, a late change allowed bowlers to warm up on the main ground before the performance.
Sciver-Brunt stated: 'Obviously there's a few moving parts with the pre-game stuff. People like to bowl before the game on one of the bowl-through wickets. We had a few chins down. I guess that's what you get when you're playing in a final and there's a lot of other moving parts that aren't to do with the two teams playing. Hopefully we can go about our business as usual.'
Australian Captain's Light-Hearted Reaction
Australian captain Sophie Molineux laughed off the drama, joking to The Guardian: 'I'm assuming if Rita Ora is here, we can evacuate the dancefloor, that's for sure.' Rita delivered a high-energy set featuring a catalogue of her chart-topping UK Top 10 hits on the historic outfield.
Rita Ora's Recent Comments
This incident comes just weeks after Rita admitted she barely remembered her husband Taika Cohen's 50th birthday party in Ibiza last August. When asked about the celebrations, she responded: 'Oh, goodness, yes – it was a lot of fun, but I'm not going to lie, I can't remember much of it!' Rita also shared a more positive outlook on online trolls, stating: 'It only gets to you badly if you open your world up too much while actually creating music. That can become tricky. But once the music is out there, opinions come with the job, and you kind of accept that everyone's going to feel differently.' She advised newcomers: 'I would say a big part of it is about not being too swayed by people's opinions. It's hard because, naturally, you want everyone's approval. That's human nature. But sometimes, asking for too many opinions can actually make you doubt your own creative instincts. Sometimes, you just need to go for it.'
