Sophie Ecclestone has set her sights on a third T20 World Cup triumph as the redemption arc for what she calls the hardest 12 months of her career, with the England left-arm spinner declaring that lifting the trophy in England this summer would “put a lot of things right” after a period in which she stepped away from the game to protect her mental health.
The 26-year-old, who has 154 international wickets across formats and remains the No 1-ranked T20I bowler in the women’s game, missed England’s tour of South Africa in late 2024 and the start of the 2025 international summer after telling head coach Charlotte Edwards she was “not in the right place” to compete. Her return in the recent ODI series against West Indies — match figures of 4-29 at Chelmsford — was her first competitive cricket in nearly seven months.
The breaking point and the road back
Ecclestone has been unusually candid about what triggered the absence. The fallout from England’s 16-run defeat to Australia in the 2023 Ashes, the early exit from the 2024 T20 World Cup in the UAE — where England lost a low-scoring semi-final to South Africa by six wickets — and a televised exchange with broadcaster Alex Hartley over the squad’s fitness standards combined, she says, to leave her “questioning everything”.
“I’d never had a winter off in my life since I was 19,” Ecclestone said. “I needed it. I wasn’t enjoying cricket. I wasn’t enjoying being out in public. I’d come off the field and not want to speak to anyone. That’s not me.”
She trained alone at Lancashire’s indoor centre at Old Trafford through January and February, worked with a sports psychologist arranged through the PCA, and was eased back via Lancashire Thunder’s pre-season camp before being recalled to the senior squad in April. Edwards, appointed England head coach in February following Jon Lewis’s departure, has spoken publicly about managing Ecclestone’s workload through the summer.
Responding to the fitness criticism
The Hartley episode — in which the former England spinner suggested on BBC Test Match Special that members of the squad, Ecclestone included, were not fit enough — became a flashpoint. Ecclestone unfollowed Hartley on Instagram; the story dominated cricket coverage for a week.
Her response now is measured. “Looking back, the way it was said hurt because it came from someone who’d been in the dressing room. But the point underneath it — that we had to be sharper, fitter, more accountable — that was fair. I’ve worked on it. I’m fitter than I’ve been in three years. The numbers in pre-season speak for themselves.”
Those numbers, according to ECB strength and conditioning data leaked to the Telegraph in March, included a 2km time trial improvement of 47 seconds and a 12% increase in her bowling speed at the crease. She is also bowling, by her own admission, a quicker, flatter trajectory — a tactical shift designed to deny set batters the room to use their feet on subcontinental-style surfaces.
What a home World Cup would mean
The T20 World Cup begins on 12 June at Edgbaston, with England opening against Sri Lanka before group matches against India, Pakistan and the West Indies. Lord’s hosts the final on 5 July. England, beaten finalists in 2023, are second favourites behind defending champions Australia, who have won six of the nine editions.
For Ecclestone, the stakes are personal as well as professional. She was 19 when England last lifted a senior global trophy — the 2017 50-over World Cup at Lord’s, against India, in front of a sold-out 26,500 crowd. Every World Cup since has ended in semi-final or final disappointment.
- England have lost three of the last four T20 World Cup semi-finals or finals
- Ecclestone has taken 56 wickets in 38 T20 World Cup matches at an average of 14.2
- She would become the first England woman to win three T20 World Cups
- A home final at Lord’s would mirror the venue of her 2017 ODI World Cup debut triumph
“Winning at home, with my family there, after the year I’ve had — it would put a lot of things right,” she said. “Not just for me. For the group. We’ve had a tough couple of years and we know it. This is the chance to change the story.”
Edwards’s first major tournament in charge will be judged on a single metric. Ecclestone, fit again and bowling with the snap of her 2022 peak, may yet be the one who decides it.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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