Sophie Ecclestone to take break from cricket to focus on well-being and injury recovery

‌England cricketer Sophie Ecclestone has decided to stay away from the domestic circuit in a bid to focus on her well-being and recovery from a quad injury. Ecclestone, who is currently not part of the England squad that is facing West Indies at home, may be available for selection for the white-ball series against India scheduled to start later this month.

"Sophie has been managing a quad niggle over the past week but more importantly she wants to take a step back from cricket for a short period to look after herself,” England Women’s team head coach Charlotte Edwards said.

"We're totally behind that. We want to be able to select Sophie for the India series but the most important thing for her at the moment is that she feels in a better place. We all agree that a break now could be beneficial for her to achieve that."

The left-arm spinner was left out of the England Women’s ODI and T20I squads, for three T20Is and three ODIs against the Windies, last month as she continued her recovery from injury and did not have much game time. But on the same day, she turned out for Lancashire Women in their ECB Women’s One-Day Cup match win against Warwickshire Women, scoring a 49-ball 50 and picking up a wicket.

"Following her knee injury, Sophie Ecclestone is physically not quite at 100% yet," said head coach Charlotte Edwards on her omission. "She's been rehabbing and working hard but she's only just got back on the park for Lancashire so she doesn't have enough cricket under her belt to be ready for this series.”

Post her return, the 26-year-old played a crucial part in her side winning the inaugural T20 Women’s County Cup 2025 topping the overall wicket charts with a tally of 11 wickets from four games at an impressive economy of 3.66 and a strike rate of 8.63. She is currently part of the Lancashire Women’s team that is playing in the Vitality Blast Women.

Ecclestone, the number one ODI bowler in ICC’s latest list of rankings for women, hopes to be back in the nick of time ahead of the marquee white-ball series against India, which will comprise five T20Is and three ODIs, towards the end of this month. She will also play a key role in England’s ODI World Cup campaign to be held in the Indian sub-continent later this year.