Bowler Brunt Why I’m the last woman still standing
England’s top bowler is getting married, running a business – and still has her focus on T20 tournament
When it comes to downtime during the forthcoming Women’s T20 World Cup, Katherine Brunt, England women’s all-time leading wicket taker, could well be found alone in a quiet area. It is not that the sole remaining player from the last – and only – time England have triumphed at the global tournament in 2009 cannot stand her team-mates. Far from it, especially when one of those is the 34-year-old’s fiancee Natalie Sciver. Rather, she has other business to attend to.
“Honestly, it’s forever ongoing,” says Brunt about the responsibilities which come with the second career in property development she has been involved with since the age of 23 in order to secure her future away from the game.
Sciver, to whom she announced her engagement publicly last October after becoming partners in the aftermath of England’s 2017 one-day World Cup win, is her long-term business partner too. It means any spare time in Australia during the World Cup, which starts on Friday, will be filled with cricketing commitments but also occasional property discussions and wedding planning for September.
“It’s brilliant. Nat is well onto it now and I wouldn’t be able to do it without her,” Brunt tells The Sunday Telegraph, explaining how following one game in the recent Tri-Nations series she was shortly on the phone trying to acquire steel for a girder in one of their houses.
“We do share a lot of things. You might think that was weird and too much and we might want to punch each other. But Nat is the most chilled, patient person I’ve ever known. I guess that’s why I’ve chosen her to be with me forever.
“I’m not the type of person to sit behind a desk. I hate employing and paying people to do work that I could definitely do myself, albeit it takes me 10 times longer. But it’s very rewarding. I haven’t had time to really learn a lot of really intricate skills. But I certainly will get more into that when I finish playing.”
The question of when Brunt, England women’s greatest fast bowler, eventually does finish playing has been one following her around increasingly in recent years.
She has ticked everything off her “list” since making her England debut, aged 19, in a Test against New Zealand in 2004. Three World Cup titles (including the 2009 one-day and T20 double, with a player of the matchearning opening spell of three for six in the final of the latter), two Ashes wins, No1 bowler in the world, a Test match half-century – “a century would have been ideal but I’ll have that”. The records continue to fall, too, with Brunt in December becoming the first England female cricketer to take 150 one-day wickets. Combined, she has the most wickets by a female English player, with a further 41 and 81 Test and T20 scalps respectively.
“I have achieved everything I set out to do,” she responds to why she still puts her body through the rigours of international cricket. “I never thought I would play this long, especially when I had my second back surgery at 28. But that little thing in the back of your head which tells you you’re not done yet is very annoying.”
Prior to the last T20 World Cup in 2018 she had hinted that it could have been an opportunity to bow at the top but then she aggravated a longstanding back injury in one of the pre-tournament warm-up games.
“Two years ago that was a bleak time for me certainly, probably one of the worst times in my whole career. I was ready to hang my boots up. When you’re in a wheelchair or taking a fair few amount of pills a day, it is a case of what are you doing?” she reflects.
“It was a pretty dark place for about a nine-week period, I was just in constant pain, very disabled. I don’t wish to be in that position ever again. This is the risk you take when you put yourself through what you do and for as long as I have. I’m not in that place now which is excellent and I’ll do what I can for the team for as long as I can.”
The simple truth is Brunt is still that young girl from Yorkshire, unable to shake off her love for the game. As an introverted youngster bullied through school, cricket became her escape. Even then, she was adamant she did not want to play for England and later, aged 17 and struggling with her weight, took a break. But the sport will always be in her blood.
“I’m far too resilient and competitive for my own good,” she says, although she does admit to considerations of whether playing longer will have a detrimental long-term effect on her health, for example on her desire to have a child and play with them without physical restrictions.
Equally, another “big reason” for extending her international career for as long as possible is to share the experience with her soon-to-be-wife: “I wouldn’t get to see her for half the year otherwise,” she half-jokes.
They are at least signed to play alongside each this summer for Trent
Rockets in the inaugural Hundred competition, although Brunt concedes that was more a tactical move: “I hate playing cricket against Natalie. If she hits me for 20 off an over or something, I don’t want to go home and talk to her. I want to knock her out!”
As for more immediate England matters together, this World Cup will be a first tournament under new head coach Lisa Keightley. Reaching the final is the minimum target.
Organisers hope the game, featuring a performance by singer Katy Perry and taking place on International Women’s Day on March 8, will attract the biggest crowd to a women’s sporting event, surpassing the 90,185 who watched the 1999 women’s football World Cup final.
Surely, an England victory, in front of a crowd anywhere near that size, could be a fitting end for Brunt?
“It would be a perfect time to finish my international career, wouldn’t it?” she muses. “I might just do it and then be like a month later, ‘Just joking I’m back!’
“I go through this a lot every day. I can’t put my finger on what it is I am waiting for. When it happens, I’m sure I’ll be the first to know.”
‘I hate playing cricket against Natalie. If she hits me for 20 off an over, I want to knock her out!’