England's Ecclestone glad to get 'one-up' on brother with five-wicket Lord's haul

Sophie Ecclestone said it felt good to have regained family bragging rights from her brother after a five-wicket haul in the inaugural women's Test at Lord's on Sunday gained the England left-arm spinner a prized place on the dressing room honours board.

The four-day clash against India, which concludes on Monday, takes place 142 years -- and 150 matches -- since the London ground first staged a men's Test.

It is also 50 years since Lord's hosted its first women's match, a one-day international between England and Australia.

Until recently, women's games at the 'Home of Cricket' were a rarity, with Ecclestone's brother James playing at Lord's before his sister did, when appearing in the 2021 Village Cup final.

But Ecclestone, also involved in England's T20 World Cup final defeat by Australia at Lord's on July 4, has now played two games at the London ground within a week.

During the course of the Test she has surpassed the previous England record of 335 all-format international wickets set by retired fast bowler Katherine Sciver-Brunt.

And on Sunday her return of 5-118 in 33.3 overs saw the 27-year-old Ecclestone become the first woman on the Test honours board in the home dressing room.

"It wasn't ideal, but obviously, it was pretty cool for him," said Ecclestone of her brother's appearance at Lord's.

"But I've got one up on him now. I'm on the honours board at Lord's, and I don't think he'll ever do that, so yeah, I'm one up on him now."

"It's pretty special. I'm in the Lord's changing room forever now."

But Ecclestone said she had shed tears when running on to the field on Sunday morning, after learning of former England captain Heather Knight's decision to "do a Ben Stokes" by announcing her retirement from international cricket mid-Test. 

"She's been around ever since I made my debut," said Ecclestone of Knight. 

"For her to be at extra cover always cheering me on, I feel like I can't really imagine this cricket team without her."

- 'Amazing Gaud' -

But for all Ecclestone's efforts, India are poised for a decisive victory thanks to two honours board heroines of their own.

Yastika Bhatia became the first woman to score a Test century at Lord's on Sunday, the cornerstone of India's second-innings 341-7 declared. 

At stumps, England had slumped to 130-6, still needing 327 more runs to reach a mammoth victory target of 457.

India's strong position also owed much to seamer Kranti Gaud's superb 5-37 in England's modest first-innings 170 all out.

"I played a couple of years at UP (Uttar Pradesh) with Kranti, and she's showed how good she is the last few days," said Ecclestone. 

"She's been amazing and deserves to be on the honours board."

Not for the first time this season, a match involving the England women's team risked being overshadowed Sunday by news concerning the men's side, in this case the sacking of Brendon McCullum as Test coach.

"It's to our regret that this comes out on day three of the Test," England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould told reporters at Lord's on Sunday.

"We've got a number of great players with their (England) careers coming to an end tomorrow.

"With Tammy (Beaumont) and Heather, we hope we can get the focus and attention back on to them for the fourth day of the Test."

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© Agence France-Presse