Newly-appointed England Women captain Nat Sciver-Brunt is ready to quash the fitness criticisms that plagued England’s disastrous defeat in The Ashes and look forward as she balances her new role alongside motherhood.

Sciver-Brunt’s appointment as skipper at the end of April came on the back of changes following the whitewash 16-0 loss to Australia, Charlotte Edwards replacing Jon Lewis as head coach and Heather Knight stepping down after nine years as captain.

During the Ashes tour there was a fair share of drama centred around questions regarding England’s fitness levels, spinner Sophie Ecclestone refusing to be interviewed by former team-mate and now media pundit Alex Hartley after the latter questioned England’s fitness in the wake of the T20 World Cup exit months earlier.

Sciver-Brunt captained her country for the first time in international cricket for the third IT20 match against New Zealand in 2021 and also took charge for the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

She has also already had a successful player and coach relationship with Edwards, with whom she is yet to settle on a vice-captain, helping Mumbai Indians to glory in the the Women’s Indian Premier League in 2023 and 2025.

Now, as she gets into the swing of her captaincy, she wants to quash those lingering fitness criticisms and “move forward” to show “everybody their love for the game” with an ODI World Cup just around the corner.

Indeed, Sciver-Brunt expects to be fit to lead England for the first time in her new role in the series-opening T20 against West Indies next Wednesday, but she has had no direct involvement in squad selection.

“We work on fitness as much as we do our strengths and skills. To know that we are working on it should hopefully be enough to squash those criticisms. We are a hard-working side,” Sciver-Brunt said.

“I want to empower everyone to be the best version of themselves. I want us all to work really hard for each other and the team, and also make smarter decisions and learn from different experiences.

“It is really good to learn and to move forward.

“Obviously nobody likes going through a series where you don’t win a game and for it to be such a high-profile one like The Ashes.

“People in our team will really want to move on from that and do things in a way that will help reverse some of the things people will be thinking from a fan perspective.

“Really, we want to be looking forward and working hard and showing everybody our love and care for the game and for our team.”

While England’s former captain Knight left her role after a near nine-year tenure following the Women’s Ashes series defeat, Sciver-Brunt is grateful for the leadership that Knight has shown, taking their side from empty fields to packed-out stadiums on the international stage.

“Nine years is a long time [as captain] and she [Heather Knight] has taken us from hardly anyone watching to filling out stadiums,” she added.

“That change is a massive one when you are playing in front of those people and what that means from a media perspective is that there is loads more eyeballs on you.

“Everything you do can be scrutinised so she has had a massive job taking our team from that point.

“From now, we really want to look forward and look at the things we want to tweak slightly differently to put in some good performances.”

Balancing cricket and motherhood is an enjoyable challenge

Last year, Sciver-Brunt revealed on the Under the Lid podcast – co-hosted by wife and former England international Katherine – that she missed England’s first IT20 match against Pakistan to undergo egg-freezing treatment.

The pair welcomed their son, Theodore Michael Sciver-Brunt, in March this year with the England captain saying she is grateful to her wife for helping her through the challenge of parenthood while also returning to cricket, her captaincy being announced while she was off on maternity leave.

“Theo is healthy and happy so we are really happy with that and getting used to the sleep patterns,” Sciver-Brunt added.

“We are really enjoying that part of our lives.

“Coming back into all things cricket with a newborn was a challenge and it still is a challenge.

“Getting everything I need to do done and then taking Theo for a bit so that Katherine can do something for herself means the day has become quite long.

“But that is what I needed to do at the time and Katherine has really been very good in that she has taken on a lot of looking after Theo in order for me to be able to do that.

“At this moment in time, I am really grateful for that and for her.”

England Women’s summer fixtures

All times UK and Ireland; all games live on Sky Sports

T20 international series vs West Indies (May)

• First T20: Wednesday May 21 (6.30pm) – Canterbury
• Second T20: Friday May 23 (6.35pm) – Hove
• Third T20: Monday May 26 (2.30pm) – Chelmsford

One-day international series vs West Indies (May-June)

• First ODI: Friday May 30 (1pm) – Derby
• Second ODI: Wednesday June 4 (1pm) – Leicester
• Third ODI: Saturday June 7 (11am) – Taunton

T20 international series vs India (June-July)

• First T20: Saturday June 28 (2.30pm) – Trent Bridge
• Second T20: Tuesday July 1 (6.30pm) – Bristol
• Third T20: Friday July 4 (6.35pm) – The Kia Oval
• Fourth T20: Wednesday July 9 (6.30pm) – Emirates Old Trafford
• Fifth T20: Saturday July 12 (6.35pm) – Edgbaston

One-day international series vs India (July)

• First ODI: Wednesday July 16 (1pm) – Southampton
• Second ODI: Saturday July 19 (11am) – Lord’s
• Third ODI: Tuesday July 22 (1pm) – Chester-le-Street

Watch every England Women’s cricket match this summer live on Sky Sports, starting with the T20 series against West Indies from May 21. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.