In a way, it only makes sense that the cricketer stepping into the big boots of a giant called Heather Knight, displays the heroism of a knight herself.
A saviour of England cricket when it is in the doldrums. A reviver of an inning going nowhere. A fire-starter who converts modest starts into breezy knocks and moreover, a giver of hope when the team really needs some.
Nat Sciver-Brunt is all this and more.
In what has already been a storied career, Nat Sciver-Brunt has transformed lost causes into winning endeavours on the pitch.
When she’s not been responsible for stellar efforts with the bat, she has taken the game away from her opponents producing magical spells thanks to medium pace bowling.
From the onset of April 2025, that the England women’s cricket team, a pantheon of exceptional talents, will be led perhaps by the greatest of them all.
Fair to say that as one Knight of the game passes on the baton of leadership to another, a colossus is ready to rise.
3811 one day international runs. 2789 T20 international runs. 9 hundreds and 38 fifties in international white-ball games. A Test match tally nearing 1000 runs with an average of 46. 181 international wickets.
But the biggest drawing point for England is that Nat Sciver-Brunt has these achievements to her name with no fewer than, at least, half a decade of cricket left in her for her team.
For someone who was born in Tokyo, Japan and raised in The Netherlands, Nat Sciver-Brunt has, much to England’s honour, represented her Majesty’s international team and earned worldwide fame.
Great players, it is often remarked, begin early.
So did Nat Sciver-Brunt, who was all of 21 when she debuted in an English shirt. But it didn’t take her long to impact her side with a performance that perhaps has since gone a bit undersung.
In delivering a brilliantly economical spell of 1 for 16 from 6 overs against Pakistan, circa July 1, 2013 at Louth, Nat Sciver-Brunt’s prized wicket of Asmavia Iqbal reminded the viewers of her ability to keep a tight lid on the scoring.
But that game at Louth was just the trailer. An ace of a performance was to follow immediately. In just her second one dayer for England, Nat Sciver-Brunt took a player-of-the-match performance as she crushed Pakistan courtesy a game-changing spell of 3 for 28.
In the year’s to follow, this fourth-change bowler would rise to often be the first change from England’s bowling line-up. True to her quick and effortlessly fluent standards of scoring, Nat Sciver-Brunt complements the audacious scorer in her by rounding up as an exceptionally able wicket taker.
Even despite 115 one dayers as on date, her economy of just over 4.4 inspires envy. Accustomed at taking the pace off the ball and skilled at delivering the perfect Yorkers, Nat’s cricket revolves around a sense of accuracy with the ball and the relative ease at scoring big.
From the outset, her success, evident with exceptional stints for Surrey leading to an English call-up appears akin to some Urban Legend that one hears thrillingly with a bated breath. But for real, Nat Sciver Brunt’s success speaks volumes not just of her popularity but about her ability to remain unfazed with it.
At 22, she was the peppy all-rounder that burst onto the cricket scene rubbing shoulders with giants such as Sana Mir, Jhulan Goswami, Mignon du Preez, Alex Blackwell, Suzie Bates and the likes.
At 32, she has the regard from each of these greats and several other notable legends of the game and with it, the sense of admiration of those who challenge the might of her England team in the present era. Think Smriti Mandhana, Chamari Atapattu, Hayley Matthews, Chanida Sutthiruang, Indu Barma, to quote a few from an endless list.
But here’s the bad news from England’s opponents.
The woman replacing the incredible Heather Knight, who captained the side for 199 games with a 67 percent win percentage, stops at nothing but a full 100 percent in every single game where she steps onto the ground wearing an English jersey.
May further greatness cement her legend in what’s to follow.
