Player Profile
Sophie Ecclestone is on top of the world. The Thunder left-arm spinner is ranked by the ICC as the best bowler in both ODI and T20 cricket, and she is a linchpin of the England side aiming to get to the same position by toppling Australia in the next couple of years.
Ecclestone is still only 24, but she has already taken 233 international wickets across all formats since debuting in July 2016 when she was 17-years-old.
Born in Chester, she played for Cheshire before moving to Lancashire.
Her appearances for Thunder have been few and far between because of her international commitments - 13 across four years to be precise.
But she does have bests of 60 not out and 5-15 to her name and featured for the region at the 2023 Charlotte Edwards Cup Finals Day at New Road when they were beaten by eventual champions Southern Vipers in the semi-final.
Her quality with the ball is beyond doubt, but that aforementioned 60 indicates her quality as a dangerous and powerful lower order batter as well.
Ecclestone has played in all the big events, the Ashes and World Cups, and she has also featured in domestic events around the globe.
During the last two winters, she has played for Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League in Australia (2022/23) and for the UP Warriorz in the Women’s Premier League in India (2023 and 2024).
She also represents the Emirates Old Trafford based Manchester Originals in the Hundred, captaining them in 2023.
But, unfortunately, her involvement in the latter campaign was cut short in August when she suffered a dislocated shoulder whilst on the field. It required surgery, meaning she missed the rest of the home summer. But she returned for an end of year tour to India.
In the summer, she claimed 20 wickets in the thrilling multi-format Ashes draw.
In 2024, she will likely pass 500 senior wickets in all cricket. At time of writing, she sits on 474.
Ecclestone, an avid Everton football fan, is a product of the Alvanley club.
She progressed through the Cheshire age-groups from Under 13s level and made her senior debut for them in 2013 at the age of 13.
Before joining Lancashire in 2015, she was playing England Development cricket and made her senior international in a T20 clash with Pakistan at Southampton the following summer. At the start of that summer, she had been playing men’s cricket for Alvanley in the Cheshire County League Division Two.
Ecclestone is a major wicket threat, as her best figures of 6-36 in a 50-over World Cup semi-final win over South Africa at Christchurch in March 2021 suggest.
That haul joins other returns of 6-12 for Lancashire v Warwickshire in 2017 and a remarkable 7-14 for England in a T20 friendly win over England A in Australia in early 2022.
But if she is not taking wickets, Ecclestone has the ability to tie batters down. She has an economy rate of 3.71 runs per over in ODIs and 5.86 in T20Is. In Tests, it is 2.9 per over.
Ecclestone also represented the Lancashire Thunder in the old Kia Super League days.