Nat Sciver-Brunt faces a race to be fit to lead England‘s T20 World Cup campaign after she was ruled out of T20I series against New Zealand and India as she continues her recovery from a calf injury.

Sciver-Brunt suffered what was described by the ECB as a “minor left calf tear” while playing for The Blaze last month and subsequently sat out the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. It has now been confirmed following scans that she will need a longer period of rehabilitation, and will play no part in the six T20Is that form the bulk of England’s preparation for a home World Cup.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge will also miss the New Zealand T20Is, the first of which takes place at Derby on Wednesday, as she awaits the arrival of her first child. England have called Maia Bouchier and Charis Pavely into their squad as cover. Charlie Dean will again deputise as captain, as she did during the ODIs.

Bouchier had been called into the ODI squad as cover for Sciver-Brunt also and she top-scored for England with 59 in the first game, which England won in Durham. She was named in the XI for the washed-out second match in Northampton before making way for Jodi Grewcock in the rain-hit third in Cardiff, which New Zealand won on the DLS method to level the series 1-1.

Pavely was also called up as batting cover for Alice Capsey due to illness for the first ODI but didn’t play. She has been in excellent form in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, scoring two centuries and three half-centuries from the first eight games of the season.

England’s T20 squad – which is the same for the World Cup – and ODI group have both been hit hard by injuries, with Mahika Gaur and Em Arlott ruled out of the 50-over series by a foot fracture and concussion respectively. Issy Wong, who is also part of the T20 squad, missed the ODIs with a hamstring injury suffered during the warm-up for the first game but she is available for selection in Derby.

Sciver-Brunt has had a challenging time with injury herself. She didn’t bowl at all last summer, taking the time to rehabilitate a long-standing Achilles problem in time to play as an allrounder at the ODI World Cup in October.

Opening batter Sophia Dunkley, who missed the ODI series against New Zealand to manage a knee problem, returns for the T20s. Speaking in Derby on Tuesday, she expressed every faith that Sciver-Brunt would be fit to play at the World Cup.

“Nat just needs a little bit of extra time to be in the best place possible to be ready and raring to go for the World Cup and we’re absolutely confident that she’ll be leading us out for that,” Dunkley said. “To get her in the best space, a bit of time is what’s required.

“Nat’s our leader and our captain, so she’s a big part of our team, but we’ve got a really experienced T20 team at the moment and lots of different people stepping up in different positions. It’s a great opportunity for us to see what it’s like to play without her. Hopefully we can get on a roll with that and a few wins leading into the World Cup.”

Without Wyatt-Hodge, Dunkley will share a new combination at the top of the order, possibly with Bouchier, who opened with both of them during the five-match T20I series the last time New Zealand toured England, in 2024. The White Ferns went winless through that series before going on to lift the T20 World Cup trophy a few months later. Dunkley was also looking forward to working under Dean, who made her international captaincy debut during the recent ODI series.

“She’s grown so much throughout her time in the England team to becoming a really great leader, connecting really well with the group and tactically really good as well,” Dunkley said. “Again, a great opportunity for her to get some games under her belt as captain and when Nat comes back, be that great supporting role for her.”