CHENNAI: When England all-rounder Natalie Sciver decided to take a break from cricket to focus on her well-being at the peak of the home summer this year, all she knew was that she had to step away from the environment she was in.
From the time she and England returned to cricket in August 2020 till the ODI World Cup final where she scored a magnificent century, which went in vain, the all-rounder had hardly put a foot wrong.
Back in 2020, she had said that at some point she wanted to become the No 1 all-rounder in the world, and by the time the team returned to England, finishing as runners-up, she had accomplished it.
But it was not an easy road. The burnout was evident, if not for everyone, to her.
During the middle of The Hundred tournament, she had already handed over the TrentRockets captaincy to Ellyse Villani. And just before the series against India in September 2022, wherein she was supposed to lead England, Sciver opted to take some time away from the game.
“I didn’t pick up the bat at all or the ball really,” said Sciver in her first press conference since the break as she returned to action with a match-winning 90 in the first ODI against West Indies.
“In my time off, I kept myself in a good condition which is something I wanted to do whether I was training or not. It was just normal things, even after having a big two years, one year and 18 months whatever it was, just everything sort of accumulated into this and with me having to step away from the game a little bit.”
While she did not pick up the bat, Sciver did keep track of what was happening during the series against India.
“I was not trying to, well I did watch the game when the team played,” she laughed, before adding, “from the outsider’s perspective it is very different when you are in the squad, it feels very different. I was able to have a bit of fresher perspective on that.”
Sciver realised that she had to reflect on what was a difficult summer. The amount of cricket she had played and a bit left over from the Covid pandemic had caught up to her. She focused on spending time with Katherine Brunt and her dog at home and doing the things that get pushed to the back of the list when she was playing. That said, despite knowing that the decision to take a break was needed, it was not an easy call.
“As an athlete representing the country you don’t want to miss out on anything, you never want to say no to something. You don’t want to miss a training session, you don’t want to miss a trip and everything and that drive and determination can be almost your downfall. Between tours, we have periods where you can have time off and things like that, but there is always a bit of cricket on the back of your mind. You can be back in three-four weeks, you need to get back and be in a fairly okay physical state, and ready to be training again. I just got into a place where I didn’t utilise these days, weeks whatever it was because I did not have the motivation to do things away from cricket. I just had poured all my energy into that and I was not able to spare anything for times away from that. I guess that's why it all got to a bit of boiling point with me.”
“We want to be riding the wheel of cricket being more popular, women’s sport being popular, we want to join that and in time, having more people who can represent England and that will help with more people being able to play, different people able to tour and it won’t be the same 15 or 16 players who go away all the time. So, I guess time is our friend, but it can be quite tricky as well. But yeah, we don’t want to be missing out on where the women’s sport is going at the moment. That is why it is important to take the time when you can and really use it as best as you can. Obviously, not everyone is going to be able to do that. That is how you can create a bit more longevity in your sport.”
On the field, Sciver picked up from where she left, helping England recover from 127/4 to 230/5. But she knows she has just returned and the process of taking care of oneself is a continuing process. She had given up her vice-captaincy for the series and wanted to focus on just herself during her time in the West Indies. For her, it is about getting regular contact with team psychologists or the medical staff who are a part of the squad’s well-being team and catching up with them, making sure she is talking about things.
“Because my character is so steady and there are no huge highs and lows about me, it can be quite difficult to read when I am not doing so well or whatever it is. I have been working on it for a while and will continue to do that. I guess, trying to recognise when something is not right and making sure I get to that early and then just being able to do things away from cricket, making sure I take off little things every day and making time for myself as well. So far so good, we will see how it goes. I don’t want to get to a place where I have to take time off again so I am doing everything again.”
As for what she wants to do with her cricketing career, her goal remains the same as it was in 2020. Although she had her doubts as to whether she deserved to be the No.1 all-rounder in the world when she achieved it, she wants to stay there. “That is the goal — to be there, in all formats really and to be able to control the tempo that I play at and keep aggressiveness with the ball and putting as many match-winning performances as I can really.”