England overcome 'weird day' of WPL auction

The Women's Premier League (WPL) auction was a revolutionary day for women's cricket.

Yet England's players had to set aside their feelings of anticipation, excitement and possible disappointment to focus on a group-stage match against Ireland in the Women's T20 World cup.

It's unsurprising that spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who was bought for £180,000 and then took 3-13 in England's four-wicket win, said it was a "weird day".

Ecclestone, batter Sophia Dunkley and all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt learned their fate in the auction before the match, while their team-mates had to wait until the end to discover whether they'd landed a deal or gone unsold.

"There has been a weird vibe around the group," Ecclestone told Test Match Special after the game.

"I was quite lucky I knew before I came out, because I know a few of the girls didn't know until just now."

"The girls did really well to just concentrate on us. We didn't want it to be an elephant in the room so we have spoken about it a lot, but as soon as we got on the bus today we were just tuned into the game.

"I am so proud of everyone for how we've gone about it."

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World number one T20 bowler Ecclestone was selected by England coach Jon Lewis' UP Warriorz, while Dunkley was picked up by Gujarat Giants for £60,000.

All-rounder Sciver-Brunt was England's highest-earner in the auction as she was bought by Mumbai Indians for around £320,000 - the same amount as Australia all-rounder Ash Gardner and behind only India superstar Smriti Mandhana, who went for £340,000.

Sciver-Brunt's deal will make her one of the highest-earning female sportspeople in England, but her wife, fast bowler Katherine, went unsold in the auction.

So did explosive top-order batter Danni Wyatt, who was a surprise omission. Both had entered themselves at the highest reserve price of £50,000.

England kept relatively subdued about their signings, but there were vastly contrasting scenes in the India camp - videos on social media showed Mandhana receiving hugs from her team-mates as the squad watched the auction unfold together in the team hotel.

And Gardner was visibly delighted as she was congratulated by team-mates at Australia's training session.

Understandably England's players - and those from Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand who also entered the auction and played on Monday - had to try and not dwell on the WPL to focus on a World Cup.

"It was very weird actually, we tried to have a team meeting before we got on the bus and all the Indians were watching it in our hotel and we had to move the meeting because there was lots of cheering and obviously they were enjoying themselves," said England captain Heather Knight.

"It's something we've never experienced and you don't often get it in the men's game when it's on a match day - so we were trying to manage it as best we could, trying to do what individuals wanted.

"Now it's about regrouping, whatever happened in the auction doesn't change the value of those players to us as a team.

"We need to get back together and focus on ultimately what we're here to do, first of all make the semi-finals and try and win a World Cup at the end of it."

Four England players, including Knight, received their deals during the match.

Alice Capsey smashed the joint-fastest fifty in the history of the Women's T20 World Cup, blissfully unaware she had earned a £75,000 deal with Delhi Capitals.

Knight went unsold in the first round but was selected by Royal Challengers Bangalore for her base price of £40,000 just as England took the final Ireland wicket.

Fast bowlers Lauren Bell, who took 1-17 against Ireland, and Issy Wong, who is a travelling reserve, both earned £30,000 contracts at UP Warriorz and Mumbai Indians respectively.

It meant seven England players were selected overall, leaving another 20 entrants unsold.

"Naturally it is one of those things where people are probably going to feel left out and it is how that gets managed going forward," former England bowler Isa Guha told BBC Sport.

"It is a wonderful opportunity for those playing in the tournament and I'm sure the girls that haven't been selected will be happy for them."

Some players felt highs, many others lows, but England now have to make sure they stay together to focus on their aim of winning a World Cup.

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