Ecclestone: 'When life wasn't great, cricket turned for the worse too'

England spinner opens up on struggles of the last 18 months as she eyes "miracle ending" at T20 World Cup

Valkerie Baynes

Published: May 28, 2026, 7:11 AM (6 hrs ago)

Sophie Ecclestone has credited regular sessions with a private psychologist for reigniting her desire to play for England on the eve of a home T20 World Cup campaign.

It was only as England wrapped up their international summer last July at the end of twin white-ball series against India that Ecclestone declared she had considered quitting the sport - in which she has been one of the leading bowlers in the world for years - off the back of a difficult tour of Australia.

Now, preparing to face the same opponents in her side's final competitive preparation for the World Cup, staring on June 12, Ecclestone has come a long way. Although she admits she still isn't immune to struggling, Ecclestone feels better equipped to deal with the moments she now accepts are part of being one of the most high-profile players in the game.

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"Twelve months ago, I was like, 'I'm not sure I want to do this anymore, I'm not playing for England'," she says sitting at Chelmsford ahead of training for the first of three T20Is against India from Thursday. "I feel there's still moments like that where you think, 'gosh, this is a lot.'

"And I've been away from home so much now and I've been doing this for 10 years, it does get to a point where you do start looking at the future and what you want to do. But I'm still loving my time playing for England and that's most important. We're playing for a World Cup in England on home soil, there's not much more you can ask for really."

Asked what had got her to this point after hitting such a low ebb, which began with England's group-stage exit from the last T20 World Cup in late 2024 and extended to a 16-0 thrashing on their Ashes tour of Australia at the start of 2025, Ecclestone says: "I think speaking to a psych."

"I was speaking to a psych probably once every few weeks when I was going through a bit of a rough patch," Ecclestone adds. "There was a time where I didn't come out of my house for five days, so it was a bit of a tough period and it wasn't just cricket, it was life as well. When life wasn't great, cricket turned for the worse too, so I wasn't really enjoying being around in the environment and I just wanted to run away.

"I'm just so grateful for the people I have around, my team-mates, Lottie [head coach Charlotte Edwards] coming in has been so supportive and, looking back, Jon Lewis, the ex-head coach, was massive for me in that period of time when I was really going through a bit of a struggle with mental health.

"I was that person when I was younger who went, 'I would never need to talk to a psych, I'm fine.' So it was really cool to come out that side and know that I'm stronger for it."

It was at the end of their last T20 World Cup run that former England spinner turned commentator Alex Hartley questioned the fitness levels of some current players. The matter came to a head for Ecclestone when she turned down Hartley's request for a pitchside interview during the Ashes, an incident described by Clare Connor, Managing Director of England Women's Cricket as "an unfortunate incident that won't happen again".

"As a group we're ridiculously fit now. How hard everyone works is mad. If someone was quick to judge, I'd love them to come into our environment for a day to see what everyone actually does. It's been a big turning point and we're in a great position now to go to this World Cup and we're also confident within this group to succeed"

Ecclestone subsequently missed two home series against West Indies citing injury and wellbeing reasons and, when she finally addressed the matter in a Sky Sports interview ahead of the last match against India in Durham, Ecclestone remained defensive about the Hartley issue, disputing that she had refused the interview and questioning the timing of the request, saying she wanted to focus on her warm-up instead.

In her first wide-ranging interview since, Ecclestone opened up about her comeback as the leader of England's spin-bowling attack while continuing to defend her team's fitness, although she did concede that necessary changes had been made under new head coach Charlotte Edwards. When she was appointed in April 2025, Edwards vowed to introduce fitness benchmarks for the squad a year into her tenure.

"Lottie's just brought in some standards that needed to happen for professional cricket," Ecclestone says. "I feel like we were never unfit, I don't feel that, I feel like that was quite unfair, but I feel like we could have made moves in that area and we have done.

"As a group we're ridiculously fit now. How hard everyone works is mad. If someone was quick to judge, I'd love them to come into our environment for a day to see what everyone actually does. It's crazy how much people do. It's been a big turning point and we're in a great position now to go to this World Cup and we're also confident within this group to succeed.

"I know that after every T20 last summer, there was three of us on the bike doing bike sessions at 10pm and no one sees that. And we're not there to show that off personally, but I feel like people are very quick to judge."

Ecclestone was England's leading wicket-taker, and third overall, at the 50-over World Cup last October, with 16 wickets at 14.25 and an economy rate of 4.05, better than Deepti Sharma and Annabel Sutherland ahead of her.

She bowled just once during the rain-hit ODI series with New Zealand earlier this month, conceding 30 runs of five wicketless overs in Cardiff. And, after coming in for some punishment in the first T20I in Derby - Ecclestone went for 34 runs in three overs, 18 of them in sixes to Sophie Devine in one over - she took a miserly 1 for 11 at an economy rate of 2.75 in the third game of the series.

But it was fellow left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who was named Player of the Series, repeatedly posing problems for the White Ferns in the powerplay and taking 3 for 25 as England were rolled by 14 runs in Canterbury, despite having New Zealand 11 for 4 at one point. Smith took six wickets for the series at 8.33 with an economy rate of 4.16.

While Smith has experienced a career resurgence since being recalled to the England set-up in 2024 at the age of 29, Ecclestone remains the leader of the spin department by virtue of her longevity at the head of the world rankings, having made her debut in 2016 at the age of 17 and earned 196 caps across formats. That leadership role has taken on greater importance for this T20 World Cup, with the inclusion in the squad of another left-arm spinner, 18-year-old Tilly Corteen-Coleman, who is yet to make her debut in the format.

"International cricket is so hard these days, it's under more scrutiny now than it ever was when I was 17 when I made my debut," Ecclestone says. "So for them girls coming in, it will be a bit of a rollercoaster and to know that they have people around them that they can talk to and feel comfortable that it's okay to have bad days and hopefully they know that and they don't always have to be perfect."

In the same Sky Sports interview, Ecclestone revealed she had come off social media for a time but, with a home World Cup now about to start, that self-imposed ban is behind her too.

"I'll definitely be on social media, it's going to be one of the best summers for it," she says. "And haters will hate, that's just natural and that's just life for everyone, not just professional cricketers."

So just what would it mean to lift that trophy after all that's happened since the last one?

"I wouldn't be able to put into words how much that'd mean to me and the team," she says. "The group of girls I've got around me, I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for team-mates and the girls.

"They're so supportive towards me and they know I'm quite open with them about how I'm feeling most of the time. So to lift the World Cup with them girls and to share that moment with them would be something that, only things I could dream of, and it would be a miracle ending to a bit of a tough 18 months."

Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women's cricket, at ESPNcricinfo

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