New mum Sciver-Brunt was set to miss Windies series
England's Nat Sciver-Brunt was set to miss the ongoing West Indies series on maternity leave before being made captain, says her wife Katherine.Sciver-Brunt, 32, was named captain in April, a month after her son, Theo, who was carried by former England bowler Katherine, was born. "Nat was entitled to four months maternity leave, not being the birth mother," Katherine Sciver-Brunt told BBC Test Match Special."She took three weeks of that because England wanted her back for this series. "That was a huge sacrifice because those first eight weeks are so hard. "No-one would usually go back after three weeks, and Nat was pre-arranged to not play in this tournament and come back for the India series [which starts on 28 June]."
Theo was with Sciver-Brunt during the T20 series which concluded on Monday and the first one-day international on Friday in Derby, where Katherine was working as a commentator for the BBC.The matches were England's first under the all-rounder and new coach Charlotte Edwards, who were appointed after Heather Knight and Jon Lewis were sacked amid the fallout from last winter's Ashes defeat. Katherine travelled alongside England while pregnant throughout the winter but remained at home during the Women's Premier League in February and March.Had she gone into labour while Nat was at the tournament in India, her wife would not have made it home in time for the birth.Nat is the first mum to play for England since Arran Brindle, who played her last international in 2014."There were talks of a stand-in captain coming in for this series and that was a hard question for England," Katherine Sciver-Brunt said."But ultimately Lottie [Edwards] wanted Nat and I couldn't deny her that opportunity towards the back end of her career. "If I was unhappy or wasn't sure, Nat would not have done it. She is selfless in that way and that is why she makes such a good captain."Sciver-Brunt's comments come after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced an update to its maternity policy on Friday.Previously England players were guaranteed their full salary for the first 13 weeks post-childbirth and a percentage thereafter but they will now receive 12 months fully paid leave, plus an automatic contract extension and support with childcare and breastfeeding facilities.County players will get six months paid maternity leave plus the contract extension.Nat had egg freezing treatment last summer and said she would like to carry a baby after her cricket career."When you talk about giving birth, it takes more than a year to get your body back into fitness and revert back to what you were," Katherine said."You have worked so hard as a female to get to that point in your career and then you have to question stepping back and having to juggle starting a family. "Even deciding to extract and freeze your eggs, there is time that has to be taken out for that."If you are an exceptional athlete you often have a long career ahead of you, but not if you want to start a family. "Normalising this conversation and to inspiring people that it can be done, there needs to be more of that and I think it will happen."
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