Heather Knight (cricketer)

Heather Clare Knight OBE (born 26 December 1990) is an English cricketer who is captain of the England women's cricket team. She is a right-handed batsman and right arm off spin bowler. Knight played in her 100th Women's One Day International match for England in December 2019.

Heather Knight
OBE
Knight during the Women's Ashes Test, 2017
Personal information
Full nameHeather Clare Knight
Born (1990-12-26) 26 December 1990
Rochdale, England
NicknameTrev
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
RoleBatter
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 149)22 January 2011 v Australia
Last Test18 July 2019 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 115)1 March 2010 v India
Last ODI14 December 2019 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.5
T20I debut (cap 29)22 November 2010 v Sri Lanka
Last T20I30 September 2020 v West Indies
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2008–2009Devon
2010–presentBerkshire
2014/15–2015/16Tasmania
2015/16–2019/20Hobart Hurricanes
2016–presentWestern Storm
2020/21Sydney Thunder
Career statistics
Competition WTests WODI WT20I
Matches 6 89 52
Runs scored 358 2,419 589
Batting average 32.54 36.65 17.32
100s/50s 1/0 1/16 1/1
Top score 157 106 108*
Balls bowled 179 1,439 399
Wickets 2 44 17
Bowling average 40.00 23.52 22.58
5 wickets in innings 0 1 0
10 wickets in match 0 n/a n/a
Best bowling 1/7 5/26 3/9
Catches/stumpings 6/– 29/– 19/–
Source: Cricinfo, 30 September 2020

Early life

Knight was born on 26 December 1990 in Rochdale and was educated at Plymstock School, a state secondary school in Plymouth, Devon.[1] She was offered a place at the University of Cambridge to study natural sciences, but turned it down so that she would have the time to play cricket.[2] She went on to study Biomedical Sciences at Cardiff University.[3]

Domestic career

Knight has played club cricket for Plymstock Cricket Club in the Devon Cricket League where she opens the batting for the first team. Knight started attending colts training sessions at just 8 years old and progressed through the club's youth system.

Knight is a prolific batsman at county level, initially for her home county of Devon and currently for Berkshire. She topped the county run scoring aggregates in both 2008 (390 runs) and 2009 (622). She also played for the Diamonds, Sapphires and Emeralds in the Super Fours.

Knight captained Western Storm in the now-defunct Women's Cricket Super League, leading them to the title in 2017 and 2019.[4][5] She was the competition's leading run-scorer across its four seasons.[6] She continued to play for Western Storm in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in 2020.[7]

Knight has played domestically in Australia, previously for Tasmanian Roar and Hobart Hurricanes and currently for Sydney Thunder. She won the Women's Big Bash League in her first season with the Thunder, top-scoring with 26* in the final.[8]

International career

Knight was called into the England squad on their tour of India in 2010 as a replacement for the injured Sarah Taylor and played in the 5th One Day International on 1 March in Mumbai, opening the batting and scoring 49 on her international debut.[9] She toured Sri Lanka with the England team in 2010, making her Twenty20 debut in the 2nd match of the series on 22 November in Colombo.[10] She made her test debut in the one-off Ashes test at Sydney's Bankstown Oval in January 2011.

She is the holder of one of the first tranche of 18 ECB central contracts for women players, which were announced in April 2014.[11]

On 5 June 2016, Knight was appointed captain of the England women's cricket team after Charlotte Edwards stood down.[12]

She also became the first female cricketer to score a fifty and to take a five wicket haul in an ODI innings[13]

2017 Women's Cricket World Cup

Heather Knight led the England team in her first Women's Cricket World Cup as captain, and they won the tournament despite losing to India in the opening match. In the second group match against Pakistan she, along with Natalie Sciver, went on to put on a record 3rd-wicket partnership in the history of Women's Cricket World Cup(213)[14] as England managed to defeat Pakistan convincingly by 107 runs[15] In the final at Lord's Knight led England to a 9 run victory over India.[16][17][18]

Following the team's success, she was awarded an OBE in the Queen's 2018 New Year Honours list.[19]

In April 2018 she was named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for her part in the 2017 World Cup victory.[20]

2018 World Twenty20 and beyond
Knight batting for England during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

In October 2018, she was named as the captain of England's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.[21][22]

In February 2019, she was awarded a full central contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for 2019.[23][24] In June 2019, the ECB named her in England's squad for their opening match against Australia to contest the Women's Ashes.[25][26]

On 12 December 2019, during England's series against Pakistan in Malaysia, Knight became the tenth woman for England to play in 100 WODI matches.[27]

In January 2020, Knight was named as the captain of England's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia.[28] In England's second match of the tournament, against Thailand, Knight scored her 1,000th run in WT20Is.[29] She also scored her first century in WT20I cricket,[30] and became the first cricketer to score a century in all three formats of women's international cricket.[31]

On 18 June 2020, Knight was named in a squad of 24 players to begin training ahead of international women's fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic.[32][33]

Personal life

Knight's nickname is "Trev". In 2015, she explained to sports journalist Clare Balding that "When I was about 13 and introduced myself at cricket camp, they thought I said Trevor rather than Heather!"[34]

Knight also has a partner, Tim, who is an accountant.[35][36]

References
  1. "Knight is a first among equals at Plymstock". This is Cornwall. Northcliffe Media. 3 December 2008. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  2. Westbury, Isabelle (27 July 2015). "Women's Cricket: Turning down Cambridge degree course was right for Heather Knight". The Independent. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  3. "Performance: Sports Bursar selected for India training camp". News Archive – Sport. Cardiff University. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 24 October 2011.
  4. "Western Storm seal 2017 KSL title with famous win". England and Wales Cricket Board. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  5. "Western Storm claim the 2019 Kia Super League title". England and Wales Cricket Board. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  6. "RECORDS / WOMEN'S CRICKET SUPER LEAGUE / MOST RUNS". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  7. "RECORDS / RACHAEL HEYHOE FLINT TROPHY, 2020 - WESTERN STORM / BATTING AND BOWLING AVERAGES". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  8. "WBBL Final: Sydney Thunder thrash Melbourne Stars by seven wickets to win title". BBC Sport. 28 November 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  9. "England Women Tour of India 2009/10". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  10. "2nd T20I: Sri Lanka Women v England Women at Colombo (NCC), Nov 22, 2010 | Cricket Scorecard". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  11. "England women earn 18 new central contracts". BBC. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  12. "Heather Knight appointed England women's captain". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  13. "Records | Women's One-Day Internationals | All-round records | A fifty and five wickets in an innings | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  14. "Cricket Records | Records | Women's World Cup | Highest partnerships by wicket | ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  15. "5th Match: England Women v Pakistan Women at Leicester, Jun 27, 2017 | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  16. Live commentary: Final, ICC Women's World Cup at London, Jul 23, ESPNcricinfo, 23 July 2017.
  17. World Cup Final, BBC Sport, 23 July 2017.
  18. England v India: Women's World Cup final – live!, The Guardian, 23 July 2017.
  19. "Women's cricket rewarded in wake of World Cup win". The Daily Telegraph. 30 December 2017. p. 6.
  20. Wisden names three female World Cup winners in its five cricketers of 2017 The Guardian, 11 April 2018
  21. "England name Women's World T20 squad". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  22. "Three uncapped players in England's Women's World T20 squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  23. "Freya Davies awarded England Women contract ahead of India tour". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  24. "Freya Davies 'thrilled' at new full central England contract". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  25. "Fran Wilson called into England squad for Ashes ODI opener against Australia". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  26. "England announce squad for opening Women's Ashes ODI". Times and Star. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  27. "From bailing the team out of crises to clinching the World Cup: Heather Knight's top ODI knocks". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  28. "England Women announce T20 World Cup squad and summer fixtures". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  29. "Heather Knight becomes the first centurion in Women's T20 World Cup 2020". The Cricket Times. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  30. "Heather Knight scores maiden T20I century". Siasat. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  31. "First woman to score a ton in all 3 formats: The numbers from Heather Knight's T20 World Cup blitz". Scroll. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  32. "England Women confirm back to training plans". England and Wales Cricket Board. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  33. "England Women return to training with September tri-series on the cards". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  34. Balding, Clare (19 February 2015). "Balding bowled over by England's women cricketers". BT Sport. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  35. Catt, Lizzie (30 June 2019). "England Cricket captain Heather Knight on what drives her". Driving (The Sunday Times). Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  36. Wisden Staff (2 May 2020). "Heather Knight accidentally locks boyfriend out of flat during WWC17 final Watchalong". Wisden. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
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