Women's T20 World Cup is here! Nat Sciver Brunt on her fitness, England's build-up & captaining on home soil

0:01Nat Sciver-Brunt:Yeah, gone, gone, he gets his fairytale ending. An epic way to go to a Test Match 100.

0:09Tash Farrant:The London Spirit of First Time win is the most remarkable thing you'll probably ever see in cricket. 604 and final Test wicket that's due at all. It's ended, we'll win the T20 World Cup.

0:23Nat Sciver-Brunt:England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hope.

0:31Nat Sciver-Brunt:Hello, it's Tash Farrant here and welcome to the Sky Cricket Podcast. We're building up to that first game of the Women's T20 World Cup on Friday. Luckily enough, I got to chat with England captain Nat Siverbrunt. Nat, great to see you. You've had a busy couple of days. Have you pulled up?

0:48Tash Farrant:I'm all right. I'm a bit tired, but that's not through the cricket, I suppose. Yeah, it's been a strange experience watching from the sideline. And I've been pretty lucky that I haven't had loads of sort of long injuries in my career. So, yeah, different experience. But I tried to make the most of it in every way.

1:10Nat Sciver-Brunt:You say different experience. How has it been over the last month or so? Obviously, watching the team, has there been, it's been hard, but has there been some positives to that as well?

1:19Tash Farrant:Definitely. I guess I've been like having a different perspective on a game. I can sort of see if somebody needs like a bit of a chat after what they've like after the first innings or something like that so I guess I yeah it feels different to actually being in it and as well as riding the ways yourself as a player you know from down in the game but yeah from the outside I felt like I got a bit more of a gauge on how people were and if anyone needed a bit of picked me up or anything um but it's been great watching to be honest they like charlie's done a great job um we've had some brilliant performances and and being put under pressure which has been

2:01Nat Sciver-Brunt:really cool yeah and on charlie it seems like you've got a really good vice captain underneath you what's impressed you most about her leadership um yeah i think the way she leads by example um

2:11Tash Farrant:especially in the field she's one that will never let her energy drop um so yeah i think that's such a great um thing to have and people really want to follow you and um yeah like talking to her after a few of the games she just um she's always a bit unsure of herself I just sort of tried to give her a bit of confidence and she's doing a great job and shouldn't need to do anything different apart from be herself really um so yeah I think she did that really well and will you use her a lot in the

2:39Nat Sciver-Brunt:games we have a try and have as close to as possible I'm assuming we're not going to see bowl too much at the start of the tournament so you can almost just focus on the captaincy will you use her a lot?

2:49Tash Farrant:Definitely I guess I like to have pretty often conversations and I suppose little check-ins we've got two drinks breaks now Yeah I saw that, I'm not sure how I feel about that in C2. Which was a bit of a surprise but I guess just some natural breaks to check in with Charlie and then if Lottie comes onto the pitch as well we can check in with anything that they might have seen from the sideline but yeah some great moments in the game to to I suppose sense check everything um yeah I guess I like to sort of bounce ideas off people to almost verbalize them to sort of cement them in my own head as well so yeah I could definitely

3:28Nat Sciver-Brunt:be easier now yeah and Lottie you've worked with her a lot in the WPL and now the partnership for England how you've won a world cup in 2017 and also she's won a world cup at home as well in 2009 do you feel like you're a really strong combination going into the tournament um yeah I hope so I

3:44Tash Farrant:I guess all we've been trying to do is get everybody in the team to a great place to be able to perform for England. Obviously, the goal is to try and win the World Cup. So, yeah, making sure that everyone has prepared really well, which I think they have. Obviously, my preparation didn't quite go as planned. But, yeah, I think the way that we've worked together so far has been brilliant. and like you said, she's got a wealth of experience obviously winning a World Cup as well and the 20-odd years of playing for England to sell. Yeah, hopefully we're the right combination for this moment.

4:26Nat Sciver-Brunt:Yeah, and a couple of series wins start the summer. I know you weren't a part of that, but as you said, you've been watching all of the games. Where do you feel like you're at as a team going into the World Cup? I think markedly it's actually won both deciders in both of those series against New Zealand and India. So where do you feel like you're at as a team? Yeah, I think pretty confident.

4:46Tash Farrant:I think the sort of bowling line-up and the confidence in the bowlers is certainly there. I think the batters probably needed that game, that third game at Taunton. I suppose to not remind them, but to hopefully cement what they already knew, but they were maybe a bit apprehensive about putting out there. but the way that Capsie and Heather batted, they just took the game on. It looked so simple and that sort of attitude, I hope, can filter down into everybody really because you need to take the game on. You need to do things with confidence to get to the final stages of a tournament.

5:26Nat Sciver-Brunt:In that bowling line-up, you've got four bowlers in the top six world rankings. That's pretty good going. What do you feel the shift has been in that bowling unit, in particular that death bowling we've seen that that's probably something that you've needed to work on over the last couple of years what do you think the biggest shift in that has been

5:43Tash Farrant:um i think just really taking ownership of learning your skills learning your craft um so as in the previous few years we haven't necessarily been put under loads of pressure at the you know the death end of a of an innings until you face the likes of australia the likes of India um so I guess we found it quite hard to practice um but obviously I suppose not realizing that but um acknowledging that and then making sure that we're preparing you know in training maybe doing a lot more death scenarios um little bowling challenges here and there uh Chris Chris Liddell's got his little um fame triangle that if you um hit three yorkers um long side thin side and another side I can't remember because I haven't signatures on that on that

6:30Nat Sciver-Brunt:because last time I think when Wardy did the masterclass with belly there wasn't that many

6:34Tash Farrant:signatures um yeah no I think there might be two or three now that's good um but yeah I guess just just having fun with the preparation um and then when it does come to it just being really present in the game you know recognizing where um you know we might need to shift to a death plan for maybe one batter but not for the other um and it might not necessarily be in the last few overs I guess just staying trying to stay really present with um yeah reading the game and the batting

7:02Nat Sciver-Brunt:that's probably been the biggest amount of chat in the first seven games of the summer do you know your best 11 going into that first game on Friday um I think we are pretty close to

7:15Tash Farrant:our best 11 yeah um or to knowing our best 11 i guess the the way that we've sort of set up the warm-up games is to try and get you know as many people involved as possible yeah i suppose we've sort of gone with an 11 as well you know not 12 13 um just to yeah i suppose see how that fits

7:37Nat Sciver-Brunt:with everybody and with the batting obviously we'll wait to see what the that batting order's going to be do you feel like as an England side you hit enough sixes the game is going towards that sort of power hitting you played in the WPL and all around the world and you know how important the power side of the game is I think it was in that New Zealand series Divine hit I think nine or ten sixes and as an England squad you only hit five I'm not discounting the fours obviously and running between the wickets but do you feel like you've got the people to to access those areas and find those maximums enough.

8:09Tash Farrant:I do think we have the people to do it, yeah. I guess sort of being, I guess, like, with that you need to know you're right. Obviously, Sophie Devine, like you say, is probably a bit of an anomaly. She holds such power and is just willing to go for it from any moment, I suppose. And I guess for us, we have other strengths as well. so I suppose putting a perfect performance together as a batter you'd hit 100, you'd hit three sixes plenty of fours and one loads of twos I suppose it's just how you build up your innings but don't get me wrong, when we're doing range hitting all of the balls are flying over the boundary so we definitely have the people who can do it I reckon it's just bringing yourself up when you're out there like you say we've seen throughout different franchises so many different people taking on the boundary I mean it helps that the boundaries are probably a little bit smaller at times as well obviously the the wickets play into that as well but yeah I see us hopefully hitting lots

9:22Nat Sciver-Brunt:of sixes in this tournament and that running between the wickets as well the fitness the fielding that's been there's been a lot of chat over the last 18 months about that do you feel

9:31Tash Farrant:like as I said you've addressed that um yeah I think we're in a really good place um certainly like you say I guess one of the sort of markers that we tend to use whilst reviewing games is how many twos we've run compared to the other team and you did that well against India actually yes or how many can stop in the field um so yeah that is something that we're always sort of keeping a check on and wanting to improve because we know that combined with boundaries is a yeah a huge way of I suppose widening the gap I suppose between you and your position.

10:06Nat Sciver-Brunt:Yeah but let's chat a bit about your game obviously you've had to wait a little bit I'm assuming we're not going to see bowling much at the start of the tournament but I don't think you're going to give me a solid answer to that it's your second World Cup as captain do you feel really sort of embedded in the role now you've got one world cup captaincy under your belt what

10:25Tash Farrant:did you learn from that um yeah I do feel I guess a lot more comfortable in my role and what I'm doing I suppose and how the responsibility sort of feels I guess um so yeah that that first 50 over world cup probably came quite quickly after um after being captain and um yeah we were sort of trend in a sort of a transition period in the team sort of working each other out working lotty out and you know new leader and stuff like that so um yeah I think now I've now I feel um yeah I suppose really comfortable in you know where I can help people um you know how everyone sort of works on the pitch um and when I suppose when it's time as a as a leader to I suppose impart your words or you know whatever it is I suppose at the start I felt like everyone was expecting me to say something at every moment which um yeah as a sort of you know not the loudest person in the team felt a little bit uncomfortable with but um yeah I felt I guess I feel now feel really settled in the role and really excited about the group that we have put together.

11:43Tash Farrant:And, yeah, excited about what we can do in this tournament.

11:47Nat Sciver-Brunt:And you got the captaincy a bit over a year ago now. You are England's best all-rounder. I know you're probably not going to bowl. You've had their best batter. But you've also recently just become a new mum to your little one, Theo. How are you actually coping with all of that stuff outside of the game? Because you've got a lot on your plate.

12:03Tash Farrant:Yeah, I guess with Theo, it sort of gives you such an easy way to switch off. If he comes to any of the games, although they're all in the evening and hopefully he's gone to bed. But I guess just being there after practice or, you know, after anything that we do, it's such an easy way to switch off. and he doesn't really care if I've got a duck or got a 50 or whatever it is. So, yeah, it's really nice to have that sort of grounding with him and Catherine coming along as well. So, yeah, there's a lot to juggle, but at the moment I'm feeling all right about it and being able to, I suppose, compartmentalise when I need to.

12:52Nat Sciver-Brunt:Well, let's look ahead. Obviously, first game on Friday against Sri Lanka, a team that sometimes has got the better view in recent times what challenges do they pose

13:01Tash Farrant:um yeah they've they've got i suppose a very accurate bowling attack um one uh that probably doesn't have the pace that we tend to be used to when we're you know playing the sort of nations that we have done so far in the summer um so a different challenge with that um we'll see their captain Chamari Atapatu is a batter that can win the game on her own for the side but that's not to discount lots of their other batters who can contribute to a winning cause so there'll be a great challenge I've seen plenty of innings where Chamari's taken world class bowlers to the cleaners

13:43Nat Sciver-Brunt:I hate his bowling at hand, it's like in my nightmares

13:47Tash Farrant:I remember there was a warm-up game for the T20 World Cup in Australia and she was just carting us about Cameron Rotton Oval. But yeah, I mean, I think this tournament is going to be such an open one. There's plenty of opportunities for any team to win. And yeah, I guess I'm probably more stressed about the nations that don't play as much in Scotland and Ireland as well. So, yeah, it'll be obviously so excited to play the opening match and take on the challenge, I suppose, of Sri Lanka.

14:29Nat Sciver-Brunt:You've got a World Cup win in 2017. We all remember that at Lords. Could this potentially be the best moment in your career if you feel that you get through those group stages and potential of lifting that trophy?

14:40Tash Farrant:absolutely um yeah 2017 or you know forever be etched in my mind it's um yeah a day that I'll never forget the feeling of and I imagine being the one to lift the trophy probably adds that a little bit more um but yeah I guess um I'm sort of I suppose the the leader of the team but I'm only representing everybody else who's in the group so um yeah I guess it'll be as much for them as it will me. So hopefully, yeah, hopefully we're all stood there on the podium on the 5th of July.

15:17Nat Sciver-Brunt:Well, I'm really looking forward to it. Good luck for the World Cup now. It's great to see you back out there and good luck for Friday as well. Thanks. Well, it was good to chat to Nat there. She seemed pretty calm, albeit some selection decisions still needing to be made. Every game of that Women's T20 World Cup will be live on Sky Sports for you to watch with the build-up for the first game, England versus Sri Lanka, starting at 5.30 on Friday.

15:43Nat Sciver-Brunt:The World Cup is here, and so is our new Sky Sports News podcast. I'm Rob Dorsett, and during this tournament, myself and the rest of my Sky Sports News colleagues will bring you everything you need to know about the World Cup in a handy bite-sized podcast of around 10 minutes. We'll deliver the podcast straight to your inbox every morning so that you can find out what's happening before everyone else. Sounds good? Then give Cheat Sheet at the World Cup a follow wherever you get your podcasts from or watch us on YouTube or get us on Sky TV. That's Cheat Sheet at the World Cup daily from Sky Sports News.