England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt is on course to feature in the Women's T20 World Cup beginning 12 June, though she is likely to take the field purely as a batter rather than as an all-rounder, head coach Charlotte Edwards confirmed in Taunton. Edwards said she was “very confident” of the skipper's availability after a prolonged calf injury layoff.

Edwards' update on Sciver-Brunt

Sciver-Brunt has been absent through England's home summer so far, missing the ODI and T20I series against New Zealand and the recent 2-1 T20I series win over India, after picking up a calf injury while representing The Blaze in the One-Day Cup in April.

“That makes tonight even more exciting, doesn't it, that we've got Nat Sciver-Brunt adding to this lineup. I am very confident. She's training this week and Saturday and doing her running and she'll be playing hopefully in the first warm-up game next week,” Edwards said.

“All good with her. I'm not sure she's going to be bowling so it'll be in a batting role for us, hence why we've been managing some workloads throughout this series. Freya Kemp didn't bowl tonight, so it's really positive going into next week.”

Warm-ups and tournament opener

The skipper is expected to slot in as a specialist batter at number three when England play warm-up fixtures against Australia on 8 June and India on 10 June, before launching their campaign against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on 12 June.

A selection headache, but a welcome one

Despite Sciver-Brunt's absence, England's batters have stepped up. Alice Capsey's match-winning 82 off 43 in the Taunton decider, alongside Heather Knight's unbeaten 70, powered a 137-run stand and sealed the series against India. Edwards said the form across the order had created competition for spots.

“They're good headaches to have. We're in a really good position in terms of people (being) in form so I'm going to be taking some time away — the players are going home for a few days — and then we'll reset again on Saturday in Cardiff. I'm a big believer of your top six, they should be able to bat anywhere in the order, and the players are really showing that. We want versatility and flexibility within the order,” she added.

Pressure as a positive

Edwards signed off by framing the competition as a feature, not a flaw. “That's something when I came into this role I wanted to create without it being a burden and I don't think it's a burden seeing the players play like they are,” she said. “They know if they want to stay in the team they've got to put in big, match-winning performances and Heather and Alice did that superbly.”

England regroup in Cardiff on Saturday before the warm-up fixtures, with all eyes on whether Sciver-Brunt's batting alone is enough to anchor a title push.