England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt says pregnancy in sport remains “uncharted territory”.
Sciver-Brunt revealed on the Under the cover podcast – co-hosted by his wife and former England international Katherine – that she missed England’s first IT20 match against Pakistan to undergo egg freezing treatment.
The 31-year-old underwent the procedure between the end of England’s tour of New Zealand in April and the start of the Pakistan series in May and she believes it sparked conversations within the England team .
“It’s a bit of a strange procedure to go through, but one that I really wanted to do,” Sciver-Brunt said.
“I guess in terms of sharing, even as an England team we don’t really talk about fertility and that sort of thing.
Sciver-Brunt says sparking conversations about fertility and pregnancy in sport and with teammates is a good thing
“Actually just sparking conversations from our side has been really good. I didn’t really think about it for ages while I was playing – you play cricket and then you’ll think about life afterwards, afterwards.
“I really had nothing to hide, I just wanted to talk about it and get more people talking about it in international cricket.
“I think it’s important if people want to start a family. Not everyone will, which is totally fine.
“Last year I heard about more people in different sports either allowing families around women’s sports to have babies or allowing teams and clubs to do whatever they can so that the person who had the baby – or their partner – has the peace of mind that they can return to training or playing for the team or club without having to worry about whether their child is okay or if the person caring for him has everything he needs.
“It just hasn’t really been talked about publicly in the last year. It’s kind of a little bit of an unexplored, underexplored space.”
After securing an ODI and T20 series victory against Pakistan, Sciver-Brunt is back with England as they begin their white-ball series against New Zealand at Chester-Le-Street next week, in direct on Aerial sports.
The team then plays a series against Ireland before kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign in October against South Africa in Bangladesh.
England will aim to go one better after being narrowly beaten by the Proteas in the semi-final of the previous tournament in 2023, but Sciver-Brunt believes the strength of T20 cricket in England has helped create more headaches in terms of Selection.
“We obviously had the T20 section against Pakistan and the Charlotte Edwards Cup ends this weekend where different people put their hands up in all the teams,” she added.
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The best of Nat Sciver-Brunt’s batting performance as she collected a century in England’s third ODI against Pakistan
“T20 cricket in England has improved through the hundred different tactical ways of doing things, but also gaining experience from all the international players who come in as well.
“It definitely gives more headaches for the selectors, we have the T20 series against New Zealand coming up and then the Hundred as well, there are so many opportunities for people to stand up and let Jon Lewis know and Heather (Knight) why they should be chosen.”
A World Cup victory would add to Sciver-Brunt’s growing collection of accolades this year after she was named the world’s best cricketer by Wisden and women’s cricketer of the year by the ICC.
The all-rounder is aiming for further success in the future and has his sights set on participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
She said: “Anyone playing at the moment would be crazy not to think about the Olympics.
“Growing up I really loved watching the Olympics, so to have a chance for cricket to be in the Olympics is really special. I would love to play there.
“Obviously what we do in English cricket is pretty special, but being an Olympian makes you feel bigger than just a cricket team, so that would be just amazing.”
Women’s IT20 series vs New Zealand Women – live on Sky Sports
July 6: 1st Women’s IT20 – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton
July 9: 2nd Women’s IT20 – 1st Central County Ground, Hove
July 11: 3rd Women’s IT20 – The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence
July 13: 4th Women’s IT20 – The Kia Oval, London
July 17: 5th Women’s IT20 – Lord’s, London
Watch every T20 World Cup match, including the final in Barbados on Saturday June 29, live on Sky Sports.
