I saw the madness, big scores and crazy atmosphere of the IPL; I didn’t expect to be part of something like that: Nat Sciver-Brunt 

Nat Sciver-Brunt was in fabulous form at the WPL. She rattled up scores of 80 n.o., 57, 42, 75 n.o., 18, 37, 38, 69, 77 and 30. And she also picked up 12 wickets to play a big role — like she did in 2023 — in Mumbai Indians’ triumph in the world’s biggest women’s cricket league. The thing with Sciver-Brunt is that she gets into fabulous form often. More often than most cricketers. Little wonder she is already one of the all-time greats. Excerpts from an interview Sciver-Brunt gave The Hindu:

In the WPL’s first edition, you were the player-of-the-match in the eliminator and the final. You may have been reminded of that, the way you performed this season, too.

I have probably surprised myself, to be honest. I have played a lot of cricket in the last few months, not all of that has been as successful as it has been here. So yeah, it’s really nice to be able to help contribute to some wins for Mumbai. Winning the first edition was special. I guess everyone’s skills were in a great place. So if one person wasn’t able to perform on that day, the next person would. I peaked at the right time for that tournament, which was really special.

Another all-rounder in the squad, Hayley Matthews, has also been brilliant for MI. And you seem to enjoy each other’s company while batting.

I am really happy for Hayley because she had been struggling a little bit with her form and she was desperate to score some runs and get into the tournament. So for her to battle away and be there with me and put on a great partnership together was really special. We have had a pretty similar group since year one of Mumbai Indians. It is great to be together out on the pitch.

How did it feel when you were picked by MI in the first season?

That was pretty mad actually. We were playing a World Cup match whilst the auction was happening. So in our team, some people found out before the game, some people found out after the game. So that whole day was a bit surreal really. And yeah, finding out that I had been bought by Mumbai Indians was a really special moment.

Did you do some number crunching, converting ₹3.2 crore into British pounds?

Yes, I looked at the numbers.

And were you impressed?

Very impressed. I started playing cricket when we weren’t paid and I played in the first WBBL where I spent all of my money quickly. Getting picked for the WPL was a very special moment for me and my family. And we are really grateful for that. And for women’s cricket to be heading in that direction is really, really special. I obviously watched the IPL before the WPL came along and saw the madness, the big scores and crazy atmospheres. I didn’t expect to be part of something like that. My wife Katherine [Sciver-Brunt] has been a big supporter of RCB.

How do you find being part of MI?

They are a great franchise. They obviously want to win and want to do things really well in terms of the cricket, but also you get looked after really well. And you know, supporters like my dad and Katherine came out to support me. They also got really well looked after. So it is a special franchise to be part of. And we have created a great group, between the players and the coaching staff.

How do you think the WPL is impacting the women’s game globally?

Being able to perform under huge pressure is a real positive for young girls growing up, aspiring to want to play for India or for their countries. To be able to perform in that kind of pressure is a very difficult thing to do. It is also a great learning curve for joining an international team.

You have been playing at the top level for more than a decade. How much has the women’s game changed over the years?

It has changed massively, in the way that we play, the scores that we want to achieve and can achieve. And then the media attention around the game. The massive attention on us brings positive and negative things.

You have played different sports. What made you choose cricket?

I had good hand-eye coordination from tennis and hockey and all sorts of sports, really. I guess by the time I was a bit older, I was playing cricket and football. So at that point, I decided I liked the cricket team more than the football team. I was playing club cricket and playing at my school. I decided I should probably just do one rather than both because I was going to tire myself out.

Tough love: Dealing with wife Katherine’s bowling has helped Nat improve with the bat. ‘She is going to try to take your off-stump out or take your head off. She prepared me for facing some really hard bowlers.’ | Photo credit: Getty Images

So you did not want to be an Ellyse Perry and score a lovely goal in the World Cup finals?

I don’t think I was good enough for that.

Recently, you became the first woman to make 50-plus scores in six successive Tests. But you have played only 12 Tests since your debut in 2014, as women rarely get to play Tests these days.

There is obviously a scheduling problem with playing Test matches, right? So I guess that sort of thing would have to be worked out. But I am glad we get to play at least the multi-format series, like the one against India. I know a lot of countries are really desperate to play Tests.

How do you look back at winning the 2017 World Cup at home?

That was a special tournament, really. Everything sort of fell into line. We probably didn’t have the greatest of starts playing against India and coming off the pitch wondering what happened. That tournament sort of kick-started another level of our professionalism, I think. Just for it to be at home, and it was like the stars aligned, really. And to end with an amazing match at Lord’s in front of a big crowd.

England beat India in the final.

That final, you know, sticks in a lot of people’s minds, like a lot of the girls who are young in the England side now remember that game and being inspired by that.

Did you watch Harmanpreet Kaur’s brilliant knock in the semifinal against Australia? That changed women’s cricket here in India.

l definitely watched some highlights. While the match was on, we must have been training or something like that. When India and Australia come up against each other, it is going to be a big game. So we were keeping one eye on the score. Harman whacked it absolutely everywhere, didn’t she?

Synergy: Sciver-Brunt has enjoyed playing under Harmanpreet’s captaincy. ‘With the bat, she has got a switch that she can flick at any time, really.  She can just accelerate things like I haven’t really seen anyone else do.’ | Photo credit: Emmanual Yogini

Now she is your captain at Mumbai Indians.

Harman is always open to that communication with us all, and wants to learn from those experiences that are on the bench. She has got a switch that she can flick at any time, really. She can just accelerate things with the bat like I haven’t really seen anyone else do.

The hardest batter you have bowled to?

Alyssa Healy. When she is on, it is extremely difficult to bowl to her. The same with Harman, too, to be fair. There are some people that just can, whatever delivery you bowl, it is as if they were waiting for that delivery.

The toughest bowler you have faced?

Katherine Brunt. She is going to try to take your off-stump out or take your head off. With me and her, we never wanted to let the other one in. She prepared me for facing some really hard bowlers. Now it is not easy facing someone like Amelia Kerr. And Jhulan Goswami was also extremely difficult for a batter. She told me she has the photo of her getting me out. What she said was, ‘You are on my wall’. And the story unfolded as to why I was on the wall. She was such a hard bowler to face. And she never missed a trick, did she?

Your favourite cricketers, male and female?

When I was younger, I really liked Freddie Flintoff. It is hard to pick one name among women as I have played a lot of franchise cricket with some of them, like Meg Lanning and Harman. I have played a lot of cricket against Australia and wondered how I could bring the sort of performances that Lanning did.