Sophie Ecclestone

Sophie Ecclestone (born 6 May 1999) is an English cricketer who plays for Lancashire, North West Thunder, Manchester Originals, UP Warriorz and England.

In 2013 she started playing for the Cheshire women's county team.

She was then spotted by Lancashire, for which she signed and made her top-level domestic debut in 2015 at the age of 16.

In April 2022, she was bought by the Manchester Originals for the 2022 season of The Hundred.

Ecclestone was then fast-tracked into England's Academy squad.

In 2016, still aged 16, she was selected for the England Academy winter squad, and went on her first tour abroad, to Sri Lanka with the academy.

During that tour, and despite suffering from homesickness, she took 16 wickets for the academy in a tri-series against Australia A and Sri Lanka A, including four wickets in a match against the latter team in Panagoda.

On 3 July 2016, she made her WT20I debut at the age of 17, during Pakistan's tour of England.

During that match, she had the good fortune to take her first wicket with a full toss.

In September 2016 she was named in the England women's One Day International squad for their tour to the West Indies the following month.

As the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup approached, Ecclestone was in contention for selection to play for England, the ultimate winner of the tournament.

However, she was still 17 years old, and had another round of exams to go before finishing school.

Ecclestone, her parents and England's then coach Mark Robinson therefore decided that she would not play for England that summer.

Since passing those exams, Ecclestone has been a fixture in the England team.

Her height of 6 ft, which gives her extra angle, along with her ability to control the ball, makes her suitable for all three formats of the game.

On 9 November 2017, she made her Test debut for England women against Australia women in the Women's Ashes.

In December 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named her the Emerging Player of the Year.

In October 2018, she was named in England's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.

Ahead of the tournament, she was named as one of the players to watch.

In February 2019, she was awarded a full central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for 2019.

In June 2019, the ECB named her in England's squad for their opening match against Australia to contest the Women's Ashes.

At the end of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in March 2020, she became the world's number one bowler in Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) cricket.

In July 2021, Ecclestone was named the ICC Women's Player of the Month for June 2021.

Ecclestone was born in Chester, Cheshire, and raised in Helsby, a village in the same county.

From when she was a young child, she, her older brother, James, and her father, Paul, played cricket or football outside their home, on a daily basis.

She also displayed proficiency at cricket.

Ecclestone considers that her brother James, who taught her how to play both football and cricket, has been the biggest influence on her career.

She received her formal cricketing education at Alvanley Cricket Club in Helsby, where her father was the junior coordinator, and she was the only girl on the club's pathway.

She joined the club's junior section at seven years of age, and entered the Cheshire U13s pathway just two years later.

When Ecclestone made her debut for the Alvanley boys' first team, James was one of her teammates.

According to former member of the Cheshire men's team and Alvanley's then left-arm spinner, Robin Fisher, who helped Ecclestone to discover the art of finger spinning, she was so naturally talented that she did not need much coaching.

Even then, some of the Alvanley boys speculated that she would play for England when she was older, but at that time she was just playing cricket for fun.

By 2022, the club had made her a life member.

Ecclestone attended Helsby High School.

On one occasion, she embarrassed her new school headmaster, after he allowed her to participate in an informal cricket match during the after school club.

In 2020, she told BBC Sport:

"'I don't think he realised I could actually play cricket ... My mum told him I could play and he said: 'Yeah, she can join in.'

I got all the boys out, and I bowled the headmaster first ball.

He said to me afterwards: 'So, you're OK at cricket?'

He was so nice to me for the rest of school after that.'"