Seventeen-year-old Sophie Ecclestone can’t wait to play for England after receiving her first call-up to the women’s squad for the three-match NatWest International Twenty20 (IT20) series against Pakistan but admits it’s a scary prospect.
The left-arm spinner is the latest recruit to join Heather Knight’s new-look England side, following the inclusion of Alex Hartley for the One-Day International at Taunton, and could be set to debut on Sunday.
“I’m really excited. When Mark Robinson told me, I couldn’t wait to tell my parents and my brother,” Ecclestone said.
“They were proud of me. I’ve been waiting for it to come and now it’s finally here, it’s kind of scary.
“It’s an amazing environment to be in. All the girls have been really nice, I’ve been training with them for a little while now but it’s a bit surreal.”
Eccelstone, who plays for Lancashire and is also part of the Lancashire Thunder squad for the upcoming Women’s Super League tournament, was recently involved in the England Academy side that toured Sri Lanka, where they won six out of seven matches.
She said: “It was a really good experience for me [out in Sri Lanka] working with all the coaches, it was a class group of players. Coming into this setup, I didn’t know how hard they train, it’s quite a lot of commitment but it’s really nice being part of it.
“It’s quite scary [sharing a dressing room with so many big names in the sport], I need to know my boundaries with how jokey I am. But it’s been a nice welcome and they’re a proper nice bunch of girls.
“I can’t wait to play, have my family here, to see the crowd.”