Katherine Sciver-Brunt, the most successful women’s limited overs bowler for England, said on Friday that she was giving up her international career. She had already said that she would stop playing county cricket, but she will keep playing in The Hundred. She said last year that she would no longer play Test cricket.
In her 19-year career, she has played for England in 14 Tests, 141 ODIs, and 112 T20Is, and she has taken 335 wickets in those games. She won the world cup three times over the course of her career. Most of the time, she was the first bowler to hit the new ball. She also did well with the bat lower down the order. In ODIs, she hit two half-centuries and in Tests, she hit one.
She has also won four Ashes. Her statement comes before the Australia series, which will start in June. This year, she last played for England in the finals of the T20 World Cup against South Africa. She hasn’t played in an ODI for a while now. Her last 50-over international was in July of last year.
“Well, here I am, 19 years later, at the end of my international journey,” she said when she told people she was retiring. I thought I’d never have to make this choice, but I did, and it was the hardest one I’ve ever had to make.
“I never wanted to do what I’ve done. All I ever wanted was for my family to be proud of me. And what I’ve done is much more than that.
“I have so much to be thankful for. Cricket has given me a purpose, a sense of belonging, security, a lot of great moments, and best friends that will last a lifetime. I have won all of the awards and titles I could have wanted, but the best thing I have done is to find happiness with Nat.
“It’s been a big honor to play for England for so long, and I’d like to thank everyone in the England cricket family, both from the past and the present, for making my time there so special. The fans are great. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to do what we love, and the environment you create is something that can’t be replaced.
“But I have to say that I’m most grateful to my family. They are my biggest fans and give me the most support. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to go on this journey at all.”
Clare Connor, who was also Sciver-Brunt’s first national leader and is now the Managing Director of England Women, said, “Katherine has done so much for the game of cricket and especially for women’s cricket. She has been a great role model for us for nearly 20 years, giving us everything she has.
“When a cricket player retires, we should celebrate his or her skill, runs, catches, records, and awards. But Katherine has done a lot more for cricket than just those things. Her biggest influence has come from the way she treats people, such as her drive to make our sport better, her care for her teammates, and her desire to always come back better and stronger, even after major injuries.
“Through the time she’s spent with fans, writing autographs and posing for pictures, she’s inspired a lot of girls and boys. Over the years, many of these kids will have seen Katherine play and been moved to start playing themselves. That’s a very important thing to leave behind, and she should be so proud of it.
“Katherine started her career in a very different time than the one we are in now. We owe her a lot of thanks for helping to improve our game, raise standards, and attract new fans to women’s cricket.
“She is simply a star in our sport, and I’d like to thank her on behalf of the ECB and everyone else in the game. We wish her the best as she ends her amazing run in international cricket.”
