Katherine Sciver-Brunt calls time from World Cup after semi-final defeat

England’s veteran seamer Katherine Sciver-Brunt has confirmed that the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final encounter against South Africa was her last appearance in a World Cup event. The 37-year-old, earlier in the year, retired from the longest format of the game, and now has pulled the plug on World Cups.

"I've been thinking about retirement daily for two years," Sciver-Brunt told the ICC in a press release issued on Saturday. "It used to be after every tour, I'd question what I was doing.

"But as it's drawn closer, I've thought about it a bit more seriously and it does creep into your mind when you're training, mainly because of the pressure other people put on you. You get all those comments and then you start to think, 'Oh, am I slowing down? Should I stop? Am I embarrassing myself?'

Katherine picked up four wickets in the recently concluded tournament for England, but was very costly during their semi-final exit, conceding 39 runs in three overs, including 18 runs in the final over. The right-arm seamer insisted that she would like to retire ‘on top’ and would not want to stretch her career past a point where she becomes a liability to the team. 

"I've always said I would like to retire on top, where I'm still wanted, I'm still picked in the first XI, I'm not less than what I used to be. That's how I've felt in the last six months, those things are starting to creep in where I can see somebody taking my role and doing it just as well. This is definitely the last World Cup and beyond this point, I'm fairly close to it all being along the same line, so it won't be long."

The 36-year-old is one of England’s illustrious players, with two 50-over titles and a T20 World Cup title way back in 2009. But she insisted that the legacy of ‘Brunt’ will carry on with her partner, Nat Sciver-Brunt carrying her name on the back of her jersey. 

"Looking back on my career, I'd like to think I was Mrs. Consistent," she said. "I'd like to be remembered as someone who was always at the top of my game and always contributing for my country, helping us in a winning cause and giving everything I had.

"The good thing is Nat can carry on my name, the legacy of Brunt will carry on, which is great. Having my name associated with hers is also great because she's a bit of a legend in her own right now."