England spinner Sophie Ecclestone says Women’s T20 World Cup success a ‘dream come true’
Sophie Ecclestone is thrilled to have some young, spinner friends in the England team, describing the success of the three-pronged attack which she leads as a “dream come true”.
Ecclestone, 20, already has 34 T20 international appearances under her belt and she chalked up her 50th wicket in the format as she claimed 3-7 in 19 balls to help England to a 46-run win over West Indies on Sunday that clinched a spot in the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals.
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Playing a fine supporting role to Ecclestone in the win over West Indies were 20-year-old legspinner Sarah Glenn (2-16) and 21-year-old offspinner Mady Villiers (1-30), making her World Cup debut.
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As well as sharing the wickets among themselves, Ecclestone is just pleased to have some team-mates who share the same taste in music.
“With Glenny and now Mady in the team, it’s really nice to have some spin companions,” the left-arm spinner told the press following England’s convincing win.
“It’s really nice, as when I put songs on the playlist, people actually know my songs now. I really get on well with them and they’re some of my best friends now in the squad.
“It’s really nice to have them and for us to all be performing well together and winning games for England, it’s a dream come true.”
Although all similarly young in age, Ecclestone could be seen as the senior figure in the attack due to her T20I caps and wickets (34 caps, 50 wickets) dwarfing those of Glenn (10, 15) and Villiers (4, 5).
Ecclestone has failed to take a wicket on only three occasions before for England, while she stretched her streak of taking at least one to 18 straight games with her haul against the West Indies, but she doesn’t see herself as any different to her fellow fledgling spinners.
“I didn’t know that [I’d gone 18 T20Is in a row with a wicket], so that’s quite nice to know. Obviously I’m really happy with how I’m bowling currently and I just hope it continues.
“The pressure being on me brings the best out of me personally.
“I don’t see myself as a leader of the group. It’s a really nice group to be around and all the girls are in it together.
“I’m still learning off the likes of Katherine [Brunt] and Nat [Sciver], with everything that they do, so I’m still learning myself.”
England stay in Sydney now, though move from the Showground, where they beat the West Indies, to the world-famous SCG for the semi-finals.
Following a disappointing defeat to South Africa in their opening game of the tournament, Ecclestone hopes England are now peaking at just the right time.
“Everyone’s really happy in the camp now, getting through to the semi-final,” said Ecclestone. “All the spinners, the bowlers are in great form, the batters getting runs too, so it’s quite nice.
“I think it [defeat to South Africa] was a bit of a wake-up call for us all to be like ‘right, we’re in a World Cup now, we need to up our game’. I’m really glad with how the girls have fought back.
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