WPL 2024: Spin twins Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma raring to go in UP Warriorz’ title bid

You can’t take a tough cookie like Sophie Ecclestone away from cricket. The English spinner dislocated her right shoulder last year while warming up ahead of a fixture of The Hundred, robbing Manchester Originals of her services for the season. She underwent surgery for the issue in September, but was back a couple of months later with the English set up that toured India for three T20Is and a one-off Test.

England won the T20I leg 2-1, but lost the Test by a massive 347-run margin. The two losses it endured had one common element: an underperforming Ecclestone. Her fluctuating rhythm did not stop her from bowling 41.3 overs in total in the four-day Test. She conceded 167 runs, taking five wickets overall. In the two fixtures England won in the T20I series, she returned economy rates of 3.75 (with three wickets) and 3.90 (two scalps). In the loss in the final T20I, Ecclestone conceded 40 runs despite taking two wickets.

This is not to pin blame on the gifted 24-year-old, especially when she was —with the full condence of the team management — finding her flow coming off the injury. However, it does speak volumes of just how valuable she is to the team’s cause, enough for the outfit to depend a tad too much on her sometimes. Ecclestone only contributed to the workload, constantly approaching skipper Heather Knight to trust her with the ball for another over.

“I hadn’t played much cricket up until that point. As a player I am really lucky that I didn’t need much training before I got into things. My head just needed to be in the right space,” Ecclestone tells Sportstar ahead of her second stint for the UP Warriorz in the Women’s Premier League.

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“For the India series, it was interesting to put myself back in match situations again and in front of a big crowd as well. For the team to have faith in me was pretty nice,” she adds with a cheeky smile.

For a competitor as ruthless as her, watching from the sidelines was a tough proposition. She’s had to do that a fair bit over the past six months. “I had a long rehab, over three months. I’ve had some time off to give the shoulder a rest as well and was eventually just raring to go,” she explains.

The time off was necessary as she needed to rebuild strength in both shoulders. The Chester-born all-rounder was spending six days every week in the gym working on her power and arm movements.

After the India tour, Ecclestone had a long Christmas break which she spent with her family, giving her body more rest ahead of a relentless international and franchise-league season.

“It was great, but somewhere in the middle, I got really bored and was itching to bowl again,” she shrugs.

And bowl again she will, for a side filled with eccentric characters and one of her fiercest competitors to partner her with the ball — India’s Deepti Sharma.

“Deepti is an incredible player and it’s fascinating to watch her do her thing. I can’t wait to team up with her, be the spin twins of the side and put up some memorable performances in India,” Ecclestone says.

The Agra-born right-arm o-break bowler shares her teammate’s enthusiasm and reveals how close this unit has become over the past year.

“We were waiting for the season to begin. We enjoy each other’s company a lot,” she says.

“Sophie and I have always worked on maximising our strengths. We don’t look at what the batter we face is bringing to the table as much as we do on our stock balls. We do simple things and focus on our communication during the game, staying alert to the match situation and working in tandem to build on any individual impact we might have,” she explains.

The Alyssa Healy-led side managed to steady a rocky campaign to make it to the knockouts last time. Ecclestone hopes things aren’t as topsy-turvy, more so because she feels the team has a point to prove.

“It will be nice to get the Warriorz into the final. Sometimes we don’t get the credit we deserve because we’re one of the smaller teams. We are the underdogs and it’ll be nice to make it to the final and prove everyone wrong,” she says.

Deepti is excited to be part of the league’s widening horizons as it moves to two new cities.

“I heard the cheers coming my way in Mumbai. One chant was “Humari beti kaisi ho? Deepti Sharma jaisi ho” (How should our daughter be? Like Deepti Sharma). That felt absolutely incredible. We are playing in new venues and it’s a chance to reach out to a whole new set of people. We can’t wait,” she concludes