Nat Sciver-Brunt lined up to be next England captain by new coach Edwards

Nat Sciver-Brunt is being lined up as the next England captain by the new coach, Charlotte Edwards. The Surrey all-rounder has been identified as the outstanding candidate to replace Heather Knight, who stepped down last month after England’s Ashes whitewash in Australia.

Sciver-Brunt is on maternity leave after the birth of her son this month to her wife and the former England seamer Katherine Brunt, and formal discussions will take place when she returns to training. The 32-year-old‘s only concern is the potential effect on her role in all three formats, but Edwards is thought to be willing to manage her workload.

Sciver-Brunt would inherit a team in transition and at the start of a pivotal period that includes a 50-over World Cup in India in October, a home T20 World Cup next year and the return Ashes series in 2027. Edwards has concluded that, although not renowned as a tactician, Sciver-Brunt’s experience and inspirational qualities make her best qualified for the role in the short-term at least, ahead of younger candidates such as Charlie Dean and Grace Scrivens.

The ECB is keen to confirm the appointment of a new captain before the T20 World Cup launch event at Lord’s on 1 May, with England’s international season starting three weeks later. England have a busy summer with three T20s and three one-day internationals against West Indies, before India visit for three T20s and three one-day games.

England will be expected to win all four series in home conditions, with the main task of the new leadership team being to ensure the side are well prepared to mount a serious challenge at this autumn’s 50-over World Cup. Before last winter’s 16-0 Ashes debacle England also disappointed at last year’s T20 World Cup in Dubai, where they failed to get out of the group stage.

Sciver-Brunt has captained England on numerous occasions when she was Knight’s vice-captain and was in charge during their decisive T20 World Cup group stage defeat by West Indies when the captain sustained a calf injury that left her unable to field. She was also in charge when England lost to New Zealand in the bronze medal match at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, but those disappointments have not been held against her.

Edwards worked closely with Sciver-Brunt in her previous job at Mumbai Indians, who won the Women’s Premier League title for the second time in three years in March. The pair also played together for three years for England before Edwards retired in 2016, the year before Knight led the side to win the World Cup at Lord’s.

Edwards views Sciver-Brunt as best-placed to lead an improvement in standards as she is one of few players worth a place in the side in all three formats. England’s fitness levels were criticised by their former spinner Alex Hartley during the Ashes and will be a focus of the new regime.

“I will make the players more accountable for their fitness, that’s something I’m going to do,” Edwards said after her appointment this month. “But I wouldn’t have taken on this role if I didn’t think that in six months’ time we could win a World Cup in India. I think we’ve got the playing group to do that. We’ve got a lot of hard work to do and a lot of honesty, but I’m really confident that we can turn things around very quickly.

“I’m under no illusions, coming into this role, it’s about winning. I think coaches are sometimes too scared to say we want to win. That’s our job. My job is to win games of cricket and it’s how we go and do that now.”