page_title: Sophie Ecclestone
section_title: International career
hierarchical_section_title: Sophie Ecclestone / International career
caption_attribution_description: English: Sophie Ecclestone bowling for England against South Africa during their 2020 ICC Women&#39;s T20 World Cup match at the WACA Ground in Perth, Australia
context_page_description: Sophie Ecclestone is an English cricketer who plays for the England women's cricket team. In December 2018, the International Cricket Council named her the Emerging Player of the Year. At the end of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in March 2020, she became the world's number one bowler in Women's Twenty20 International cricket.
context_section_description: Ecclestone was then fast-tracked into England's Academy squad. In 2016, at the age of 16, she went on her first tour abroad, to Sri Lanka with the Academy. During that tour, and despite suffering from homesickness, she took 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 WT20I debut at the age of 17, during Pakistan's tour of England. During that match, she had the good fortune to take her first wicket with a full toss. In September 2016 she was named in the England women's One Day International squad for their tour to the West Indies the following month.
  As the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup approached, Ecclestone was in contention for selection to play for England, the ultimate winner of the tournament. However, she was still 17 years old, and had another round of exams to go before finishing school. Ecclestone, her parents and England's then coach Mark Robinson therefore decided that she would not play for England that summer.
   Since passing those exams, Ecclestone has been a fixture in the England team. Her height of 6 feet (1.8 m), which gives her extra angle, along with her ability to control the ball, makes her suitable for all three formats of the game. On 9 November 2017, she made her Test debut for England women against Australia women in the Women's Ashes.
  In October 2018, she was named in England's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. Ahead of the tournament, she was named as one of the players to watch.
  In February 2019, she was awarded a full central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for 2019. In June 2019, the ECB named her in England's squad for their opening match against Australia to contest the Women's Ashes.
  In January 2020, she was named in England's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia. On 1 March 2020, in England's final group match of the tournament, Ecclestone took her 50th wicket in WT20Is, and her 100th wicket in international cricket. She became the youngest woman to take 50 wickets in WT20I cricket, which she achieved in 34 matches. With eight tournament wickets at an average of 6.12 and an economy rate of just 3.23, she also emerged from the tournament as the world's number one WT20I bowler.
  Ecclestone was the first England bowler to hold that distinction since Anya Shrubsole in 2016, and the first England spinner to do so since Danielle Hazell in 2015. She told The Cricketer in June 2020 that when the news was released, it was both overwhelming and the fulfilment of a dream she had had for several years.
  On 18 June 2020, Ecclestone was named in a squad of 24 players to begin training ahead of international women's fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic.
caption: Ecclestone bowling for England during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup
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