England seamer Katherine Sciver-Brunt has come in for criticism for her on-field behaviour during England’s T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to South Africa.
The legendary bowler conceded 33 off her four overs, including 18 of the last, with England falling to defeat by six runs.
The latter stages of the innings were pockmarked by several errors in the field by England, and several outbursts of frustration from Sciver-Brunt. On the third ball of the 17th over, Charlie Dean failed to take a catch off Marizanne Kapp, with the ball bursting through her at mid-on and going to the boundary. Sciver-Brunt yelled and pounded the ground in response.
Three balls later, Dean was the target of Sciver-Brunt’s ire again, failing to stop a two as Tazmin Brits tucked to deep mid-wicket. She again reacted angrily, gesturing towards the stumps to imply that the throw was a wayward one.
“Katherine [Sciver-Brunt], she’s punching the floor, are the wheels coming off for England?” said Alex Hartley, Sciver-Brunt’s former England teammate, speaking on BBC Test Match Special. “It doesn’t help anybody. All it does is put pressure on your teammates. She’s lost her head. I know she’s passionate, I know she wears her heart on her sleeve, but look at the pressure she’s putting on her teammates.”
“It makes you more nervous. It makes you physically shake. There were a few girls that looked fed up and intimidated,” added Hartley. “Katherine Sciver-Brunt is 37. Her job is to grow the next generation of cricketers. Right now she is intimidating them.”
How long Sciver-Brunt’s England career will go on for is a well-worn topic of discussion. The storied quick has retired from Test and county cricket, and came in for some criticism for her performances during the T20 World Cup, conceding 39 runs from three overs during England’s narrow group-stage victory over India.
“I don’t know if it’s Katherine’s last game for England,” said England captain Heather Knight. “She’s still bowling very well so we’ll see what happens.
“She’s very passionate and maybe tries a bit too hard, but it’s probably unfair to look at that one over in isolation, during the whole innings there were things we could have done better.”
