Sophie Ecclestone Wiki, Height, Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Sophie Ecclestone is an English cricketer who plays for the England women’s cricket team. She has also played for Lancashire, North West Thunder, Manchester Originals, and Sydney Sixers cricket teams.

Wiki/Biography

Sophie Ecclestone was born on Thursday, 6 May 1999 (age 24 years; as of 2023) in Chester, Cheshire, England. Her zodiac sign is Taurus. She grew up playing cricket and other outdoor sports with her elder brother, James, and father in Helsby village in Cheshire. It was James who taught her how to play both football and cricket. She received her formal cricket training at Alvanley Cricket Club in Helsby under coach Robin Fisher, where her father was the junior coordinator. She attended Helsby High School.

At 17, Ecclestone was in contention for selection to play for England when the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup approached. However, she had another round of exams to go through before finishing school. Therefore, her parents and England’s then-coach Mark Robinson decided that she would not play for England that summer.

Physical Appearance

Height: 5′ 11″ 

Hair Colour: Medium Blonde

Eye Colour: Light Grey

Family

Parents & Siblings

Her father, Paul Ecclestone, was a junior coordinator at Alvanley Cricket Club. Her mother’s name is Elaine Ecclestone. She has a brother, James Ecclestone.

Husband

She is unmarried.

Fiance

Sophie Ecclestone got engaged to Craig Hitchmough in 2021.

Career

Dometic

She joined the Alvanley Cricket Club at 7. Ecclestone passed through the Under-13s, 15s and 17s before debuting for Cheshire women’s county team in 2013. Later, she joined the Lancashire Women cricket team and made her first-class debut against Nottinghamshire at the age of 16. Ecclestone plays for Lancashire Thunder in the Women’s Cricket Super League (also called Kia Super League).

International

After having a good run at the domestic level, she was fast-tracked into England’s Academy squad. She was also on was on the England development programme before being selected for the England Academy winter squad in 2016, where she toured Sri Lanka. During that tour, she picked up 16 wickets for the Academy in a tri-series against Australia A and Sri Lanka A, including four wickets in a match against the latter team in Panagoda. On 3 July 2016, she made her international T20I debut against Pakistan at County Ground, Bristol during the Pakistan Women tour of England. During the match, she took her first wicket with a full toss.

On 8 October 2016, she made her ODI debut against West Indies Women at Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica during the England Women tour of West Indies. She played a major role in her team’s victory. On 9 November 2017, she made her test debut against Australia Women at North Sydney Oval, Sydney during Women’s Ashes 2017/18. In 2017, Ecclestone won the Lancashire Cricket Board’s young player of the year accolade. She was named to England’s squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20. England reached the finals in the tournament; however, they lost to Australia. She took 10 wickets in 5 matches during the 2018 England women’s Tri-Nation Series, featuring South Africa and New Zealand. England won the series. Being the highest wicket-taker, Ecclestone was named Player of the series.

She was granted a full central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in February 2019. In the same year, the ECB named her to England’s squad for their opening match against Australia to contest the Women’s Ashes. In January 2020, she was named to England’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia. On 1 March 2020, amid the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, she became the youngest woman to take 50 wickets in WT20I cricket, which she achieved in 34 matches; it was also her 100th wicket in international cricket. She became the world’s number-one bowler in Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) cricket by the end of the world cup with eight tournament wickets at an average of 6.12 and an economy rate of just 3.23. In December 2021, Ecclestone was named to England’s squad for their tour to Australia to contest the Women’s Ashes. In February 2022, she was named to England’s team for the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand, where her phenomenal performance led her to become the world’s number-one bowler in women’s ODIs. She completed the tournament as the leading wicket-taker. On 31 March 2022, Ecclestone claimed a six-wicket haul in WODIs in the semi-final match of the World Cup against South Africa, with 6/36.

In July 2022, she was named to England’s team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Women’s T20 Challenge

In 2020, she represented Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge, an Indian women’s cricket Twenty20 tournament. IPL Trailblazers beat IPL Supernovas by 16 runs in the final and won their maiden title.

In the 2022 Women’s T20 Challenge, she played for IPL Supernovas, which beat IPL Velocity by 4 runs in the final.

FairBreak Invitational T20

In the 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20 tournament, she represented the team Spirit. She was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament. The tournament was won by Tornadoes, who beat Falcons in the final by 8 wickets.

The Hundred

For the 2022 season of The Hundred, in April 2022, she was bought by Manchester Originals.

Women’s Premier League (WPL)

In 2023, she was signed by UP Warriorz for Rs 1.8 crore for the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Awards, Honours, Achievements

• In December 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named her the Emerging Player of the Year.

• In 2020, Sophie Ecclestone became the youngest woman to take 50 wickets in Twenty20 internationals. ^[1]BBC

• Ecclestone was named the ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June 2021.

Favourites

• Colour: Pink

• Football club: Everton F.C.
  

• Footballer: Dominic Calvert-Lewin

• Cricket Stadium: Emirates Old Trafford in Stretford, England

• Film series: Harry Potter

Facts/Trivia

• Her nickname is Sumo. ^[2]England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

• Her batting style is right-hand bat, and her bowling style is slow left-arm orthodox.

• In 2022, the Alvanley Cricket Club recognised Sophie Ecclestone as a lifetime member.

• Sophie Ecclestone has a dog named Rex.

• In 2020, at the age of just 20, she became the world’s number-one-ranked T20I bowler. Ecclestone was the first England bowler to hold the distinction since Anya Shrubsole in 2016, and the first England spinner to do so since Danielle Hazell in 2015.

• A football fanatic, she enthusiastically supports the Everton Football Club.

• Her jersey number for England Women is #19.

• During one of the informal cricket matches that she played, she sent all the boys in the opposition team packing. Not just this, she bowled the school headmaster on the very first ball. While talking about the same in an interview, she said,
  

  I got him out first ball – I knocked all three stumps out the ground,” the left-arm spinner recalls. “He was a bit surprised. I don’t think he was expecting a girl to come along to the club at all – he certainly didn’t realise I could actually play cricket. All the lads were laughing.”

• In an interview, she said had she not become a cricketer she would become a PT teacher.