Women’s Ashes: Heather Knight says talking about her future as England captain ‘not for now’ with two games left | Cricket news
Heather Knight says talk of her future as England captain is “not for now” with two games remaining in the Women’s Ashes.
England lost the series after going down 10-0 on points, beaten by Australia 3-0 in the one-day international leg of the tour before being defeated in the first two T20 internationals
Knight hit 43 not out from 19 balls in Canberra on Thursday, only for England’s pursuit of 186 to be marred by late-match rain with one ball to spare as Australia triumphed by six runs at Duckworth-Lewis-Stern.
England have not won the Women’s Ashes since 2014 with four wins by Australia and two draws in the series since then.
Their aim in the ongoing competition is to avoid defeat, with another T20 international in Adelaide on Saturday and a day-night Test match in Melbourne from January 30.
Knight, who has been captain since 2016, said: “I suppose in any leadership position you always feel a sense of responsibility when teams don’t do well.
“We didn’t perform as well as we wanted, across the board. It’s certainly frustrating, but [my future] not really a question for now.
“I’m focused on what we need to do to try to win the next game and try to turn things around. Whatever happens at the end of the tour, that will be a conversation for later.”
Knight: Referees have the right to stop the game due to rain
Knight was furious when the umpires took the players off the field at Manuka Oval, seconds after she hit Annabel Sutherland for four through last over to reduce England’s claim to 18 off the last five balls.
But later she admitted that the officials made the right decision.
“It was the right decision by the umpires, 100 per cent,” added Knight, who had earlier seen Danni Wyatt-Hodge top score with 52 off 40 deliveries.
“I was really in the zone to try and win that game, and obviously frustrated that we went out, but it wasn’t for the umpires at all. It was quite wet. Even when we ran it was quite slippery.
“I felt like I could get us over the line. I felt really ready and I had some really good boundary options on a very good cricket wicket.
“It was an amazing crowd and they deserved the finish. You could hear the fans’ frustration that we were relegated.”
‘We all care about playing for England’
England have focused on playing entertaining, attacking cricket since Jon Lewis became head coach in 2022, but they have not won an Ashes series or a T20 World Cup in that period.
Knight added: “It’s still a mantra that’s very important to this team. We’re always at our best when we try to take the game on and enjoy it. But obviously there’s more to cricket than that.
“We know it’s not as simple as just saying we want to entertain. We also want to win at the end of the day.
“We didn’t do it this time, and a lot of players are frustrated and hurt that we didn’t do it.
“We all really care about playing for England and representing a team that is really special.”
Women’s Ashes – results and fixtures
All dates and times UK and Ireland
