Scrivens, 21, will take charge for the first of three matches against Australia A at Hurstville Oval in Sydney on Wednesday, with Durham captain Hollie Armitage set to lead the 50-over team next week*. Even though she has yet to make her full England debut, Scrivens’ director of cricket at Essex, Andy Tennant, believes she could thrive in the role, just as Graeme Smith did when he was appointed as South Africa captain at a similarly young age back in 2003.
The ECB had not initially named any captains for the seven-match tour, although Scrivens and Armitage were the only two players in the multi-format squads with leadership experience. Last season Scrivens led Sunrisers to victory in the final staging of the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy, while in 2023, she was named in the ICC’s team of the tournament after leading England to the final of the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa, where they lost to the favourites, India.
Sunrisers have since moved their set-up across to Chelmsford, following Essex’s successful bid to be a Tier 1 professional women’s county. Speaking prior to Knight’s departure, Tennant – who has joined the club alongside 14 of last year’s 16-person squad – was unfazed about the speculation surrounding the team’s young leader.
“It reminds me back to when Michael Atherton was called the ‘Future England Captain’ when he was at Lancashire,” Tennant said. “That mantle has been placed on Grace’s head.
“One of the beauties of Grace as a leader is she recognises she’s young, she recognises she’s got a distance to go, but that in itself is so powerful, because she’s hungry to learn. She’s hungry to get better. We’ve seen those leadership qualities in her, and we’re keen to help her grow with them.”
“Hopefully, one day, she will become the England captain. I think she would be a bloody good one. But we still need to remember, she’s still only 21.”
England have had just three full-time women’s captains since 2000 – Clare Connor, Charlotte Edwards and Knight – with the latter pair’s tenures spanning 11 and nine years respectively.
Knight’s long stint has left alternatives within the current set-up thin on the ground. Nat Sciver-Brunt, her official vice-captain, does not appear to covet the role, while similar doubts surround other senior players, such as Amy Jones, Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Sophie Ecclestone. Tammy Beaumont, Welsh Fire’s captain, is a potential short-term appointment although, at 34, she is the same age as Knight, and is not currently a part of England’s T20I set-up.
Scrivens herself has yet to make her senior England debut, although a step-up seems only a matter of time given her strong Under-19 record of 293 runs at 41.85. And if, ultimately, another long-term appointment is deemed to be the way to go for England, then Tennant is confident that she would be ready to grow with the role.
“She feels to me a little bit like the English Graeme Smith,” Tennant said, referencing South Africa’s former captain who was appointed at the age of 22, after just eight previous Test appearances. He went on to captain his side in 109 Tests across 11 years, before retiring while still in the role in 2014.
“She’s that feisty left-hander,” Tennant said. “She plays the game aggressively. She’s a scholar of the game. She loves it. So I think down the line, I’d love her to captain England, and I think she’d be very good at it.”
England A’s preparations for the T20I series suffered a blow when Danielle Gibson, one of the squad’s more experienced players, was ruled out of the tour with a stress fracture of the back. She will fly home to undergo rehabilitation at Somerset, with Essex’s Eva Gray called up as a replacement.
2pm GMT – This story was updated following the captaincy announcements and Gibson’s injury
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
