‘I don’t want it to be my last World Cup’ – Nat Sciver-Brunt after England’s finals loss to Australia

Nat Sciver-Brunt (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

England Women’s skipper Nat Sciver-Brunt has expressed her desire to keep playing further after her team’s seven-wicket loss to Australia Women in the final of the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at Lord’s on Sunday, July 5.

Despite the loss, the final was a special moment for the England all-rounder, who walked out for the national anthems with her son, Theo. She was part of the England side which lifted the ODI World Cup in 2017 at the same venue, and with much time having passed since then, Sciver-Brunt cleared the air on her future.

“I don’t want it to be my last World Cup. I don’t even know when the next one is, so I haven’t even put some thought into that at all. Obviously family is everything. The support that we get from our families, our team, our supporters, it all just means so much, I guess that’s why the emotions are high,” Sciver-Brunt said after the match, as quoted by Cricinfo.

Sciver-Brunt missed three of England’s group stage games with a calf issue she suffered before the tournament, but made her return for the semi-final against South Africa. She made a triumphant return, scoring a magnificent 75 off 47 balls and sharing a 133-run stand with former skipper Heather Knight to rescue England from a precarious 23 for 3. She expressed her satisfaction and pride at being able to return to the squad and have an immediate impact.

“Trying to nurse an injury during a World Cup hasn’t been fun. I’ve always wanted to try and remain positive around the group and not let on too much how I’m feeling. Missing those games were pretty tough. I just tried to do everything I could do to not be too disruptive coming back. I surprised myself a bit coming into back in that semi-final and being able to redo what I did. I’m really proud of what I was able to do,” she said.

England were one of the better-performing teams of the tournament, maintaining a 100 per cent record until the final. They started the campaign at home, scoring a magnificent 219 against Sri Lanka in the opener, with Danni Wyatt-Hodge kicking off the campaign with a century.

“The first few games were really special. The first game in Birmingham was a real highlight, obviously not having come off too much cricket myself, but to be part of that and feeling really great about my injuries. It was such a special day, and kickstarted a brilliant tournament,” she added.

She spoke of the pride in being able to play a World Cup at home, setting a platform for young girls to watch their team and take up cricket in the future.

“We know from 2017 there are people in the crowd who are now in the England side, which is incredible. You never know who will be the next person to have been inspired by what we’ve been able to do, and become more motivated to live their dreams. That has been a really special part of this tournament,” Sciver-Brunt stated.

‘Would have liked to have had a lot of higher strike rates’ – Sciver-Brunt on finals performance

England were put into bat, but were unable to get going as Australia kept chipping away with wickets. Sciver-Brunt scored a 53-ball 58, with a 28-ball 44 from Freya Kemp taking England to a respectable 150 for 4 in their 20 overs. Australia made light work of the chase, with Beth Mooney scoring 64, supported by Phoebe Litchfield, who scored 48.

Speaking after the game, Sciver-Brunt rued her innings, stating that she should have played at a better strike rate, but believed that her innings holding an end allowed players like Kemp and Alice Capsey to score freely.

“I would have liked to have had a lot of higher strike rates, to be honest, after hitting my first ball for 4. Yeah, I didn’t, I wouldn’t, that wasn’t my intention. I wanted to play through the innings, yes, but be a little freer, I suppose, in trying to be able to find the boundary. Like I said, I picked out full tosses or short balls to the fielder on the boundary. So yeah, I’m obviously sitting here feeling like I could have done a lot better with that,” Sciver-Brunt said, as quoted by Cricbuzz.

“When I went off earlier in the tournament, it was because of my calf, not because I was retiring out. So in my head, it didn’t feel that easy for people to come in and start, hitting boundaries straight away. So yeah, I was confident that I could pick up with some boundaries towards the end there, and obviously having Alice [Capsey] or Freya [Kemp] or whoever it is at the other end being really positive, created a great partnership between me and Freya,” she added.

England Women return to action against India Women on July 10th in the first-ever Women’s Test match to be played at Lord’s.

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