• Home
  • News
  • Sophie Ecclestone Only Wants To Win After Becoming England'S All Time Leading TI Wicket Taker

Sophie Ecclestone only wants to win after becoming England's all-time leading T20I wicket-taker

Sophie Ecclestone

Sophie Ecclestone insists England victories trump her own personal achievements after she became her country's all-time leading T20 wicket-taker on Friday.

Aged just 25, Ecclestone claimed three for 11 against Pakistan to move on to 117 wickets in just 80 matches, taking her above Katherine Sciver-Brunt's 114 dismissals and to top spot for England.

The world's top-ranked T20 bowler was initially unaware of her record-breaking feats as England sealed a comfortable win at Wantage Road to move into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-matches series.

But as the T20 World Cup and Ashes both take place within the next 12 months, Ecclestone was adamant that the collective goals are much more important to her than setting any individual benchmarks.

"I had no idea," Ecclestone said. "I'm really bad with numbers and not good with stats – when I saw the screen I didn't realise I'd taken that many wickets.

"Katherine was great and she was someone I looked up to when I was young – I got her autograph a couple of times – and to have overtaken her is a bit surreal but I'm really proud of myself.

"The massive one for me is to keep enjoying it, I'm not much of a stats person, as long as the team's winning and we win a World Cup or an Ashes then I don't really care what my stats are, to be honest."

Ecclestone joked the famously competitive Sciver-Brunt would be "absolutely fuming" at her record being overtaken before adding: "She'll be really happy for me, we got on really well when we played in the same team, we're both real hot heads on the field, love to win and wear our hearts on our sleeves."

England have had moments of concern in this series but have won by considerable 53- and 65-run margins at Edgbaston and Northampton, and they head to Headingley aiming to complete a clean sweep on Sunday.

Ecclestone, though, believes Pakistan have been formidable challengers and have tipped the tourists to bounce back forcefully this weekend.

"They're a force to be reckoned with," Ecclestone added. "They know their game quite well, they bowl a lot of spin and they know what to do. It's very different coming into English conditions.

"They'll definitely come back hard at Headingley, I reckon."

More Articles