England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has expressed hope that her World Cup career is not over, following her side's seven-wicket defeat to Australia in the T20 final at Lord's on Sunday. An emotional Sciver-Brunt broke down in tears after the match, reflecting on the loss and her ongoing battle with a calf injury.
“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, who captained the side and was England's best batter throughout the tournament, admitted that nursing an injury during the World Cup had been challenging. “Missing those games were pretty tough. I just tried to do everything I could do to not be too disruptive coming back,” she added.
Head coach Charlotte Edwards praised the team's progress over the past 15 months but indicated that a review of the squad is planned for the end of the summer. With veterans like Heather Knight and Danni Wyatt-Hodge both aged 35, Edwards acknowledged the need to consider younger talent. “There’s a lot of younger players in this team now that are staking a claim. We need to have a look at the team,” she said, while noting that the older players had performed well.
Australian captain Sophie Molineux, who led her side to victory after taking over from Alyssa Healy earlier this year, expressed her joy at defying doubts. The tournament set new attendance records for a T20 World Cup, with a sell-out crowd at Lord's for the final. Edwards described it as “another extremely important day for women’s cricket in this country.”
