Katherine Brunt is looking forward to playing alongside her fiancé for the first time in domestic cricket, after the pair were confirmed as the first picks for the women’s Trent Rockets outfit.

Brunt and her international teammate Nat Sciver announced their engagement last week, but have found themselves on opposing teams throughout their county career.

And the 34-year-old felt it was time to put that right, with the advent of The Hundred providing the ideal opportunity to seek a fresh challenge.

“I wanted to play with Nat, and funnily enough all of the coaches that approached us actually asked for us as a pair,” said Brunt.

“But I’ve known Salliann (Briggs, Trent Rockets Head Coach) for 20 years – she’s a good friend, a good coach and I really respect her. We’re really looking forward to being with her and seeing how well we can do.

“This new competition gives you an opportunity for a fresh start in a whole different environment, and at my age you find yourself looking for stuff like that to spice things up.”

The tournament will also provide Brunt with her first opportunity to play at Trent Bridge in a 15-year career.

The fast bowler has taken more One Day International wickets than any other English woman, and she hopes to be able to emulate one of England’s most successful male bowlers when she makes her Trent Bridge bow.

“The likes of Jimmy Anderson have always bowled well at Trent Bridge, but I’ve never had a go there so it’ll be good to see what the fuss is about!” she said.

“It’s rare for us to get to play at some of these venues, so it’ll be really nice to be able to tick Trent Bridge off. As a cricketer you want to play at all the best venues in the country – and even as an international cricketer I’ve never been able to play there – so I’m really going to relish that opportunity.”

Brunt and her Rockets teammates will split their playing time between Trent Bridge and the county grounds in Derby and Leicester, and the right-armer has fond memories of both venues.

“I like that they’re smaller venues,” she said.

“It’s nice because when you get a crowd in it really feels like it’s packed out, and that atmosphere’s what you want.

“Sometimes it takes more than the players to make a good atmosphere, and a good crowd always, always makes for better games, so that’s one of the reasons I do like playing at those venues.”

For the past four years, Brunt has spent the English winter in Australia with Perth Scorchers in the Women’s Big Bash League.

It is an experience which has left her well-placed to understand how The Hundred could help to further raise the profile of the women’s game in the UK.

“The biggest standout was the amount of exposure the BBL had over there,” she said.

“It was in your face wherever you went, and it only helped to promote the game and help people get to know the personalities of the players.

“The fact the women’s and men’s tournaments were so equal was great as well. When I go over there as an overseas player, I get treated exactly the same as a David Willey or an Ian Bell. It was really great to feel part of something like that.

“The game’s changed big time since I started playing; in fact, one year before I started, women were still playing in skirts, and you had to pay for your own flights to play abroad.

“The salaries were very very low, and I had to work three other jobs to support myself to play.

“Being able to have cricket as my sole career – and to have no distractions stopping me from being the best I can be – is awesome.”

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