Heather Knight steps down as England Women’s captain after nine years
Heather Knight will leave her role as the captain of the England Women’s cricket team after nearly nine years, the England Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Saturday. However, the 34-year-old will be available for England selection.
Knight has led the England women’s team 199 times since taking up the captaincy role in 2016. She led the team to a home World Cup victory in 2017 against India and to two other ICC tournament finals. Under her captaincy, England won 134 matches and she sits second on the list of England Women’s all-time most successful captains.
She also led the team to a record-breaking run of eight consecutive ODI series wins including defeating Australia during the 2023 home Ashes, in which England also won the IT20 series to draw a thrilling Women’s Ashes that took interest in international women’s cricket to a new level.
However, on the back of disappointing performances by the team in last year’s T20 World Cup in the UAE and the recent Ashes in Australia, the ECB has decided to appoint a new Captain to lead the team into a new era. Knight’s successor will be appointed shortly.
Knight said: “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.
“Heather has been an outstanding leader as England Women’s Captain. She has led the team by example as a role model off the pitch, and through the runs she has scored on it – often in the toughest conditions,” said Clare Connor, ECB Managing Director for England Women.
