During the Ashes, Ecclestone made headlines for refusing an interview with former team-mate turned broadcaster Alex Hartley, who was working for Australia’s Channel 7.
Hartley, who won the World Cup with England in 2017, had questioned England’s fitness levels after the team’s early exit from the T20 World Cup in 2024.
The team’s fitness was subject of debate for some time afterwards, but when Edwards was appointed as coach, she said that the players would be “held accountable” for their fitness standards and that it was a “non-negotiable”.
“[Those conversations] are quite annoying, because people outside the group don’t see what happens in training, they don’t see how hard the girls work,” Ecclestone said.
“I feel like people are very quick to judge. I don’t ever feel like we were unfit, I think that was unfair.
“But we did feel like we could have made some moves in that area, and we have done. As a group, we are ridiculously fit now. If anyone did want to judge that I would love for them to come into our environment for the day because it’s crazy how hard people work.”
Accusations of cosiness and complacency also followed the team after the defeat in Australia, and after so many years of individual success, Ecclestone became subject of criticism, but says she is now better equipped to handle the “highs and lows” of international sport.
Ecclestone insists that she will still be active on social media during England’s World Cup campaign, which begins against Sri Lanka, as the cricketers seek to emulate football’s Lionesses and rugby’s Red Roses with a home triumph.
England’s last World Cup win also came at home in 2017, but they have fallen short in global tournaments since, most recently losing to South Africa in last year’s 50-over semi-final.
Though Ecclestone and England are cautious of looking too far ahead, she is very honest about how much it would mean to win the trophy after such a difficult time.
“The group of girls around me, I wouldn’t be here without them, they’re so supportive of me.
“I’m quite open with them about how I’m feeling most of the time, so to lift a trophy with those girls and to share a moment like that with them, it’s something I could only dream of. It would be like a miracle ending.”
