Biography of Sophie Ecclestone:
sujathadh
1. Biography of Sophie Ecclestone:
Sophie Ecclestone (born 6 May 1999) is an English cricketer who plays for the England women's cricket team. In December 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named her the Emerging Player of the Year. 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.
Early life and career:
Ecclestone was a proficient cricketer from an early age. 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 realized I could 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 afterward: 'So, you're OK at cricket?'
"He was so nice to me for the rest of school after that.''
She received a more formal cricketing education at Alvanley Cricket Club in Helsby, Cheshire, where she was the only girl on the club's pathway. She joined the club's renowned junior section at seven years of age and later attended Helsby High School.
When Ecclestone made her debut for the Alvanley boys' first team, her teammates included her brother James. According to the club's then left-arm spinner, Robin Fisher, who had previously played for Cheshire, she was so naturally talented that she did not need much coaching. Even then, some of the boys speculated that she would play for England when she was older, but at that time she was just playing cricket for fun.
International career:
Ecclestone was then fast-tracked into England's Academy squad. In 2016, at the age of 16, she 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.
