A day after the departure of John Lewis as England Women’s head coach, their regular skipper Heather Knight has stepped down from her position. It is learned that her nine years of captaining the Three Lions was a forced call following her string of low performances for the national side of late.
Knight, who was instrumental in leading the England Women’s team to an emphatic World Cup victory against India in 2017, will continue to feature as a batter. She also led the side to the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2018 and the Women’s World Cup 2022 in New Zealand.
“Captaining my country for the last nine years has been the biggest honour of my life and I will look back on my tenure with an enormous sense of pride. I have loved the challenge of leading the team, but all good things come to an end and it’s time for me to go back into the ranks and focus on being the best batter and teammate that I can be for the team. Winning the ICC Women’s World Cup on home turf at Lord’s in 2017 will always be a huge highlight, but being a part of the huge steps forward made in the women’s game off the pitch brings me just as much pride…Thank you to all the players and staff, who have given it everything along the way,” Knight stated in a statement issued by the England Cricket Board (ECB).
Under her leadership, the European nation earned 134 victories as she led the team to eight consecutive series triumphs in ODIs in 2023.
When asked about her duties as the England captain, the veteran cited that she “loved being England Captain” and it was the “most rewarding period” of her career.
It is understood that her poor form with the bat and England’s exit in the T20 World Cup in UAE followed by a 16-0 multi-series defeat to Australia was the driving factor behind ECB’s call.
