Money Factor: England star’s honest answer on missing country’s matches for Women’s Premier League cricket news

All-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt said money played a role in his decision to play for the England team in the upcoming series against New Zealand or Mumbai Indians in the second season of the Women’s Premier League. Nett decided to play for defending champions MI and will miss the first three matches of the T20I series against New Zealand. The upcoming edition of the WPL will begin on Friday and conclude on March 17. The England team will begin its white-ball tour in Dunedin on March 19.

It will be almost impossible for the Nets to get on the flight and arrive on time and be fit for the opening game. Ahead of the WPL season, Natt, who went for a huge sum of Rs 3.2 crore in the inaugural season, revealed that money played a factor in deciding to play for MI.

“Yeah, I mean, I’d be lying if I said no. Obviously after going through so much in the first year, yeah, it definitely came into consideration.

Hopefully, this matchup of club versus country will not happen again. I know we’ve seen it favor men and have for a long time, and will continue to do so. Hopefully, these clashes won’t happen in the future, which I think will maintain the importance of international cricket and keep the focus on it for everyone,” Sciver-Brunt told ESPNcricinfo’s PowerPlay podcast.

England women’s team head coach John Lewis is also facing a similar dilemma as he is the coach of UP Warriors. He will remain with the franchise till March 11 and assistant Ashley Noffke will take over if the team progresses to the next stage.

England Women’s Cricket Director Jonathan Finch called the players and allowed the players to take their own decisions. England captain Heather Knight and fast bowler Lauren Bell have decided to withdraw, while Nett, Sophie Ecclestone, Danny Wyatt and Alice Capsey will join the team ahead of the fourth T20I, which will be played in Wellington on March 27.

“It’s very difficult, because it’s almost kind of an anomaly, hopefully it doesn’t happen again. With the World Cup coming up, T20 is obviously important for us as well, but hopefully the decision I’ve made “Some guys will get a chance to build some confidence in themselves the first three games and show Levi and Heather what they’ve got,” Nate said.

Mumbai Indians will begin their campaign against Delhi Capitals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.