Nat Sciver, who was appointed England’s stand-in skipper in the absence of regular captain Heather Knight, for the upcoming India series has withdrawn from both the T20Is and ODIs, citing mental health and wellbeing.
Sciver addressed her mental health issues ahead of the T20I and ODI series against India and said, “I’ve played a lot of cricket over the last nine months and I am very emotionally fatigued. Elite sport demands a lot and for the moment I’m not able to perform without compromising my own wellbeing, so I need to take some time away from cricket in order to focus on myself. It’s the right decision for me and it’s the right decision for the team.”
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Sciver is the third senior player who will be missing from the England squad for the upcoming series against India. Earlier, Knight got ruled out of the tournament with a back injury and then Katherine Brunt got rested for the series. In such a case, the responsibility of the team now lies on young shoulders.
Brunt was rested keeping in mind her workload as she has been a part of a number of cricket tournaments off late. Both Sciver and Brunt were seen together in England’s multi-format series against South Africa and then went for Commonwealth Games (CWG) campaign. Sciver had led the team in the CWG but ended up at fourth position, losing to India in semi-finals. Brunt and Sciver were then also featured at the Hundred Women’s 2022 representing Trent Rockets.
However, Sciver will now not be seen in the series against India and as a result the England and Wales Cricket Board announced Amy Jones as the captain for the T20I series, while the board is yet to announce the ODI squad.
On the other hand, India defeated England at the CWG 2022 to make way into the finals before losing the ultimate clash against Australia to bag the silver medal. India’s tour of England for T20I and ODI is a crucial one as this is also the farewell series of one of the greatest-Jhulan Goswami who has scripted her name in bold in the women’s cricket.
With both teams having plenty of in-form players, the contest will be worth watching, starting from Saturday (September 10).
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