England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt has revealed she missed the first T20 against Pakistan following egg-freezing treatment.
Sciver-Brunt, 31, has been married to former England fast bowler Katherine Sciver-Brunt since May 2022.
“Katherine and myself would love to start a family but I’d also love to keep playing cricket,” Sciver-Brunt told the Under The Lid podcast., external
“We are lucky in that we have more options than one. We’re just working out the best way for us to go about it.”
Sciver-Brunt’s absence from the 53-run win at Edgbaston on Saturday was initially attributed to a “minor medical procedure”.
Speaking on the podcast that Katherine hosts, Sciver-Brunt explained: “I’d only just started back to exercise, so wasn’t quite ready to play.”
Sciver-Brunt is expected to return for the second T20 in Northampton on Friday (18:30 BST).
The all-rounder is one of the highest-paid female athletes in the UK after being sold for about £320,000 to Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League auction in early 2023.
Egg-freezing is the process of harvesting and freezing a woman’s eggs so she can have children at a later date.
“I’d like to carry a baby when I finish playing cricket and I think Katherine would like to carry a baby as well,” she said.
“England have been really good. The sports science and medical department are really supportive and helping me along the way, making sure coming back to cricket has been smooth. After the procedure you’re wiped out for quite a few days.”
Katherine added that the 2028 Olympics, when cricket will return to the Games in Los Angeles, is a major motivator for Sciver-Brunt extending her career, rather than taking a break to have a baby.
“If Nat was 24 she might want to have a child, then come back and play. At 31, it’s on the verge,” she said.
“Freezing the eggs now and having healthy eggs to come back to -it’s great to be able to have that choice because it’s not cheap and very invasive.”
There are currently no mothers playing for the England team, but a number playing internationally and domestically across the world.
The last mother to play for England was all-rounder Arran Brindle, whose international career ended in 2014.
Katherine, England’s all-time leading wicket-taker, retired in 2023 after a 19-year career.
The 38-year-old said she has a fertility “journey to go through”.
She added: “When I first started, it never entered my head. It was all about playing cricket. To me it wasn’t an option to stop playing cricket and do that.
“For Nat and anybody from this point on, they can see that egg-freezing is a great resource to tap into if you want to quit having those worries. There is a timeframe on how fertile you can be. There’s no other way to describe it.
“Any girls that want to have a 10- or 20-year cricket career, because the money is there now, this might become something that is tapped into.”
