By Lucy Roberts
Natalie Sciver has been named as the new Vice-Captain of the England Women’s cricket team and can’t wait to get started in her new role this week when the team play a test match against India – but she hopes she won’t be left on her own for too long just yet.
Natalie Sciver
Sciver is no stranger to taking up roles which come with a lot of responsibility though as she’s captained other teams in her career, and she was acting deputy on the last England tour, the difference now being that it’s official.
The 28-year-old gave her thoughts ahead of the India match, explained why crowds aren’t as crucial for team morale in the women’s side of the game and spoke about the importance of Pride Month.
Q) How are you feeling about being given the vice-captain role in the England Women’s cricket team?
A) I’m very excited, it’s something that I’ve had a bit of experience in, in the last tour. Obviously when Anya (Shrubsole) didn’t come on tour I stepped in for her. It’s something that I guess I’ve been wanting to do so I’m excited to actually be given the role and take a bigger lead on it.
Q) What are your thoughts ahead of the test match against India that starts this week?
A) I’m excited, I hope Heather (Knight) doesn’t go off the pitch at all or for too long, but it’s going to be really exciting. I mean, test matches don’t come along very often so yeah, it’s going to be exciting I think and hopefully I guess the wicket plays a big part in it but we’re hoping that we can get a result out of the match.
Q) Do you think you’re more nervous ahead of this test because of your new role as opposed to previous matches?
A) Well, I hadn’t thought of it up until now! I guess it’s a different feeling, in the past when I’ve had a bit more responsibility, when I was captain of the Surrey Stars in the Super League, and it sort of felt like I had more responsibility, so I actually performed better, I exceeded my expectations. I’m hoping that’s going to naturally happen but then in turn I guess if I don’t perform, I’ll feel more responsible. We’ll see how it goes. I guess it’s a different pressure to think about and different ways to go about it and we’ll see what happens.
Q) Have you thought about your approach to the games against New Zealand and Pakistan later in the year or are you taking it one test at a time?
A) I am thinking about the Indian series now, obviously New Zealand and Pakistan will come a bit later in the year, but I guess in terms of our preparation it’s a great thing to prepare for the Ashes really because we’re playing the same format that the Ashes will be which we haven’t done before. So, it’s great that we get to experience that other than playing in the actual tournament. We’ve obviously got a big year coming up next year in the winter and the summer, so there’s always times to look ahead but we’re just glad to be having a couple of series and playing the summer and hopefully in front of some crowds this year. We’ve got plenty to look forward to.
Q) Do you think women’s cricket in on the rise and what more needs to be done to help it progress further?
A) It’s definitely on the rise, yes. It has been probably since we got our first central contract. It seems year on year people are like, oh women’s cricket is on the rise, it’s been on an upward curve really. But the more awareness that everyone has of each women’s sport really and the different aspects of it in social media, social media obviously plays a big part of that. Having everything out there has really helped cricket and women’s sport stay on the rise.
Q) How much of an impact has the past year had on sport and how proud are you of cricket in particular for bouncing back so well?
A) We’re pretty lucky that we play a non-contact sport, it’s been a bit easier to get cricket back on but just watching the men’s test match last week, hearing the crowd, hearing that noise and it’s not fake this time and it really motivates you and it makes you feel like things are getting back to normal. It’s obviously been a difficult year and I guess it’s not over yet but it’s brilliant to get back to a bit more of a normal situation and play how cricket is usually played. We’re pretty lucky that we play a summer sport.
Q) What is it like to have crowds back in terms of the impact of the team’s performance?
A) It probably didn’t affect us too much when there were no crowds. I mean a lot of the crowd that come to watch us is made up of our families and friends, it’s so nice to have their support when you’re on the pitch and chat to them after the game and stuff which obviously was a big difference last year. But we’re realistic about the number of people who come to watch us, it’s nowhere near as many as come to watch the men’s side, so the energy a big crowd would give to a men’s side wouldn’t be as effective with us. It’s like a different thing to have a big crowd so it’s not something that we rely to get our energy from on the pitch. It’s great to have the support of our families, there’s a lot of families with young children who tend to come and watch us, and it’ll be great to have some people like that back in the ground and hopefully some clapping from a wicket that we’ve taken or a boundary.
Q) Do you think cricket and sport as a whole is doing enough to support the LGBTQ+ community?
A) It feels like in women’s sport it’s so much more accepted to be part of that community and it’s not like a big different thing, it’s not something that people would be taken aback by. In general, I feel pretty lucky to be in my team and be able to be who I am and comfortable about that. It’s obviously very different for men’s sport, I think in women’s cricket there isn’t a whole lot to improve, there’s obviously some things to improve on but in terms of a big shift I think men’s sport could do with a big shift. I don’t know how; I don’t know how you change people’s stereotypes about things or pre-decided opinions. But even now since five years ago it seems like there’s been a big shift in people’s perceptions of it so hopefully that can continue to happen.
Q) How important is it for the LGBTQ+ community to have Pride Month and all the celebration and awareness that it brings, both in the sport world and in wider society?
A) It’s massively important, it’s obviously something that people from the LGBTQ+ community look forward to in the calendar year. Why not celebrate it in sport as a community, in the country as a whole and in the world as a whole? That awareness that it brings will help hopefully things change in the right direction.
Q) What have you and the England team been getting up to recently with cinch?
A) We obviously heard the news that there was going to be a new sponsor and these lovely people were going to be helping us out with some cars that have got some branding on. At the moment I’ve been carting my cricket kit around with Katherine (Brunt). We’ve had to have the backseats down, it’s a little bit smaller than the car we had before but it’s very nice. We’re very lucky to be looked after so well by companies like cinch and we’re glad to have them because before I was looking through Auto Trader, if anything I should have been looking through cinch. I guess not knowing whether you’re going to need to buy a car or not the questions have been answered through cinch, so we’re very lucky.
As Principal Partner of England cricket, cinch is proud to help drive women’s cricket forward, literally. The online used car retailer showed its support for the team and their coaches by providing them with team cars to make the road to success that little bit more comfortable. See cinch.co.uk for more.