Now, as he prepares to face the same opponents in his team’s final competitive preparations for the World Cup on June 12, Ecclestone has come a long way. Although she admits she is still not immune to struggles, Ecclestone feels better equipped to deal with those moments which she now accepts are part of being one of the most high-profile players in the game.
“And I’m living a lot away from home now and I’ve been doing this for 10 years, it gets to a point where you start looking at the future and what you want to do. But I’m still enjoying my time playing for England and that’s the most important thing. We’re playing for the World Cup in England on home soil, really you can’t ask for anything more than that.”
Asked why she had reached this point after falling to such lows, which began with England’s group-stage exit from the last T20 World Cup in late 2024 and extended to a 16-0 defeat on Australia’s Ashes tour in early 2025, Ecclestone says: “I feel like I’m talking to a psychologist.”
“I was probably talking to a psychologist once every few weeks when I was going through a bit of trouble,” says Ecclestone. “There was a time when I didn’t leave my house for five days, so it was a bit of a tough phase and it was not just cricket, it was life too. When life was not good, cricket also got worse, so I was not really enjoying the environment and I just wanted to run away.
“I’m very grateful for the people I have around me, my teammate Lottie (head coach Charlotte Edwards) coming in has been very supportive and looking back, former head coach John Lewis was massive for me at a time when I was really going through a bit of a struggle with mental health.
“When I was younger I was that person who said, ‘I’ll never need to talk to a psychologist, I’m fine.’ So it was really good to come to that side and know that I’m stronger for this.”
“As a group we are ridiculously fit now. It’s crazy how hard everyone works. If someone decides quickly, I would love for them to come to our environment for a day and see what everyone really does. It’s been a big turning point and now we are in a good position going into this World Cup and we are confident of being successful within this group as well.”
Ecclestone subsequently missed the two home series against the West Indies, citing injury and health reasons and, when she finally addressed the matter in a Sky Sports interview before the last match against India in Durham, Ecclestone remained defensive about the Hartley issue, disputing that she had refused the interview and questioning the timing of the request, saying that she wanted to focus on her warm-up instead.
In his first extensive interview since then, Ecclestone talked about his return as the leader of England’s spin-bowling attack while continuing to defend his team’s fitness, although he acknowledged that changes were necessary under new head coach Charlotte Edwards. When he was appointed in April 2025, Edwards vowed to introduce fitness standards for the team a year into his tenure.
“Lottie just brought certain standards that were needed in professional cricket,” says Ecclestone. “I think we were never disqualified, I don’t think so, I think it was quite unfair, but I think we could have stepped up in that area and we have done that.
“As a group we are ridiculously fit now. It’s crazy how hard everyone works. If someone decides right away, I would love for them to come into our environment for a day and see what everyone really does. It’s crazy how much people do. It’s been a big turning point and now we’re in a good position going into this World Cup and we’re confident to be successful within this group as well.
“I know after every T20 last summer, there were three of us on bikes at 10pm doing bike sessions and nobody sees it. And we’re not there to show it personally, but I think people are very quick to judge.”
Ecclestone was England’s leading wicket-taker and third bowler overall in the 50-over World Cup last October, with 16 wickets at an average of 14.25 and an economy rate of 4.05, better than Deepti Sharma and Annabel Sutherland ahead of her.
He bowled only once during the rain-affected ODI series with New Zealand in Cardiff earlier this month, conceding 30 runs in five wicketless overs. And, after coming in for some punishment in the first T20I in Derby – Ecclestone conceded 34 runs in three overs, 18 of them in sixes off Sophie Devine – she took 1 for 11 at an economy rate of 2.75 in the third game of the series.
“International cricket is very tough these days, it’s under more scrutiny than ever before when I made my debut at 17,” says Ecclestone. “So it’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster for them for the girls coming in and they need to know that they have people around them that they can talk to and feel comfortable with that it’s OK to have bad days and hopefully they know that and they don’t always have to be perfect.”
In the same Sky Sports interview, Ecclestone revealed that she had been away from social media for a while, but with the domestic World Cup about to start, the self-imposed ban is behind her.
“I will definitely be on social media, it will be one of the best summers for it,” she says. “And haters will hate, it’s absolutely natural and it’s life for everyone, not just professional cricketers.”
So what will it mean to lift that trophy after what happened last time?
“I can’t put into words how much this would mean to me and the team,” she says. “If it weren’t for the group of girls around me, my teammates and the girls, I probably wouldn’t be here.
“They’re very supportive of me and they know I’m quite open with them about how I’m feeling most of the time. So to lift the World Cup with those girls and share that moment with them would be something, things I can only dream of, and it would be a miracle to end a bit of a tough 18 months.”
Valkyrie Baynes is general editor, women’s cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
