Few players among England’s Ashes squad have memories of success in Australia. What fleeting wins they’ve enjoyed have occurred during an 11-year drought of silverware, never quite tipping the scale to the outright series win they require to wrestle back the urn.

Nat Sciver-Brunt is one of the five senior members of the group who lifted the trophy back in 2014. Heading into that series, she’d played just 17 international matches, having made her debut the previous year. Now on her fourth Ashes visit to Australia, she arrives as England’s best asset, arguably their greatest of all time with over 7,000 international runs and on the cusp of adding even more records to her already impressive tally.

“That number feels quite a lot,” Sciver-Brunt says of this being her fourth Ashes in Australia. “We’ve had varying success coming over here in those trips I’ve been on. The last time we were here, it wasn’t the best set of memories we’ve had. It was Covid times and we weren’t performing well. It’s a different time now, and the attitude of the team and positivity around our group feels different, we’re ready for a challenge.”

There’s unfinished business for England on multiple counts as they embark on another landmark contest. Dumped out of the T20 World Cup in the group stages, questions were raised over their ability to withstand pressure, and whether their approach on and off the field was up to scratch. But more notably in relation to the Ashes, there’s an itch to scratch from their monumental comeback last time out, that resulted in them falling just short of an outright win yet again.

Sciver-Brunt was pivotal in that remarkable 2023 series. She made crucial contributions with bat and ball across the Test and T20Is, and was named player of the ODI series. The enduring memory, however, is of being at the crease in Southampton batting on 111, devastated after being unable to get the boundary needed off the final ball to keep the series alive going into its final match. She avenged that disappointment by scoring another century two days later in Taunton.

“I was able to do some crazy things in that series,” reflects Sciver-Brunt. “It was a shame it was over really… Being able to stand up against the best team in the world brings out the best in me. When the challenge and the stakes are very high I like to stand up for the team in that moment.

“The challenge for me now in this series is not setting my expectations so high and making that a detriment to how I perform… It’s a whole different ball game coming over to Australia and trying to do that.”

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One of the differences England will face in this series is keeping up with a busier than normal schedule for such a marquee event. The entire Ashes series will be played across 22 days, with most matches requiring an internal flight in between and no warm-up matches possible when switching between formats.

It adds an element of survival of the fittest into the series, especially among a young England pace-bowling group, of whom several are coming back from injuries.

“[The schedule] means you really need to manage yourself,” says Sciver-Brunt. “With me, I’m a bit more experienced in knowing what works best for me. The younger players might need a bit more guidance from the sports science and medical team on managing workloads… Having played in the Big Bash where you’re flying around here, there and everywhere, it does get very hard and tiring.”

The other difference in scheduling is the order of the series. Since the multi-format system was introduced, the singular Ashes Test match has only ever been played as first of the three or in between the ODIs and T20Is. This time, a four-day Test will be held as the final installment of the series, as a day-night match at the MCG.

The change has been made to try and keep the series alive until the end, with the Test being worth double the points of each limited-overs match. However, there’s no guarantee it will work, with Australia requiring a win in four out of the six white-ball games to retain the Ashes. It will also mean that one team will go into the game knowing that a draw will secure the trophy, meaning it could be up to the other to force a result.

“The Test match could be win or bust or the series will already be wrapped up,” says Sciver-Brunt. “We’ve played the Ashes in all different ways, in the formats and the order, it will be interesting to see what happens with the Test match played last.”

The points format was implemented in 2013, which was Sciver-Brunt’s first Ashes series. In the last few days, current and former stars including Lauren Winfield-Hill, Tammy Beaumont and Ash Gardner, have all called for more Tests to be included in the contest.

“I’ve not known anything different and it’s been years since we played more than one Test match in a series against a team,” says Sciver-Brunt. “It depends on the appetite for women’s Test cricket. The players’ appetite is always high. But you’ll have to ask some more creative people about that and how they see it going. The last few series that we’ve had have been really exciting, so I guess it’s brought the best out of both teams.”

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While the last 12 months of Sciver-Brunt’s career have brought new highs on the field, including two international centuries and time spent at the top of the ICC batting rankings, there was also a low-point. After Heather Knight sustained an injury while batting, Sciver-Brunt was left in charge on the field in England’s final group game of the T20 World Cup. Needing to defend 141 to qualify for the semi-finals, they were blown away by an assault by Hayley Matthews and Qiana Joseph.

While the loss in that game ended England’s hope of a first T20 World Cup title since 2009, the harder questions to answer were around their demeanor during the chase. As the boundaries continued to flow, catches were dropped and tempers frayed. Sciver-Brunt was at the centre of it all.

“Experiencing it at the time, it was pretty tough to take,” says Sciver-Brunt. “It felt like it was over in the blink of an eye… Ultimately, as a leader you can help bowlers decide what fields to have and what plans to execute, but at the end of the day if we can’t execute the skill it’s not going to work. It was pretty tough, I still felt pretty calm and was happy with my own personal performance to an extent, but not being able to help others in that moment was pretty hard.

“Hopefully we can use that as fuel going forward and remember that time to help us not be in that position again.”

That ending marked a sixth T20 World Cup without a trophy for Sciver-Brunt, the only major trophy she has yet to add to her record. Now in the second decade of her career, those opportunities, as well as new ones, are coming faster than ever. This year will see a Women’s World Cup in India eight months after the Ashes, while England will host the next T20 World Cup in 2026. There’s also the promise of a crack at Olympic gold on the horizon in 2028.

Off-field life has also become more of a pull over the last few years. Sciver-Brunt will become a mother this year, joining the growing number of parents on the women’s international circuit. As her personal outlook changes with the transition to the final part of her career, her mindset in the middle has also become less pressurised.

“When I started my career I was never really motivated by awards and whatever else,” she says. “I just wanted to help win games for England, which hasn’t really changed. I try not to judge myself on performances and scores or wickets or whatever it is now, but more on how I’ve played and am I happy with the attitude I’ve given on the pitch.

“In that way it’s taken things away from the outcome and more the process of how we go about things. There are a lot of exciting youngsters to whom I can impart some words, not necessarily wisdom, to help them along in their careers as well. I feel like I’ve got quite a lot left to give. Hopefully not slowing down, but I was never a quick sprinter anyway.”

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