England Women’s Captain Heather Knight believes T20 World Cup success in South Africa, which begins tomorrow, would be “special” as they look to claim their first global trophy since 2017.
England begin their campaign on Saturday against West Indies (1pm GMT) and enter the competition in good form following warm-up victories over South Africa and New Zealand.
“It’s amazing to be here in South Africa ready to test ourselves in another global tournament. We have come close on a few occasions since 2017 and it would be really special to go one step further this time around,” Knight wrote in her column for the ICC.
“It’s a gorgeous country to be in and it’s been nice to spend some time here acclimatising and playing some warm-up games. Equally we were able to go and support our England Women U19 team, who made the ICC Women’s U19 T20 World Cup final, which was a fantastic experience and overall a fantastic competition.”
Arrival of Jon Lewis as the head coach has provided clarity on England’s approach to the game.
“Since we last took part in an ICC tournament Jon Lewis has come into our group as Head Coach and with it he’s brought additional clarity about how we want to play our cricket,” Knight added.
“We want to be aggressive, we want to choose the positive option when the game’s in the balance and we want to entertain and inspire.
“He was involved with both the England Men’s white-ball team under Eoin Morgan and, more recently, the England Men’s Test team under Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, and he’s seen first-hand the positivity that can be created when you’re able to successfully shift a team’s mindset and embrace walking towards the danger. That’s our aim.”
Knight went on to praise England’s depth and believed that the experience gained by younger players last summer was a good sign for the team’s future.
“We enjoyed the West Indies tour and it’s been great to see so many players putting up their hands, vying for selection and taking on-board how we want to play our cricket,” Knight said.
“Last summer we had a few players out, myself included, and while that was tough from a performance point of view it was quite valuable in terms of exposing some of our younger players and giving them the opportunity to showcase their skill on the big stage.
“That’s led to a group of younger players coming to the fore and that’s an exciting sign for our future. The likes of Charlie Dean, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey and Maia Bouchier have their first shot at an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which we know they’ll relish.”
Knight further expressed the senior players’ eagerness for success and believes that her side is capable to beat anyone on their day.
“As well as that we’ve got a lot of senior players eager for T20 success! We haven’t lifted the trophy since 2009 and we’d quite like to put that right. We felt in a great place in 2020 before the rain intervened at Sydney but in many ways that feels like a lifetime ago, with COVID-19 entering the mix soon after.
“We know on our day that we can be a match for anyone, our job now is to ensure we have our day as regularly as possible – to keep being aggressive, taking the game forward and backing our strengths.”
Almost 14,000 tickets have been sold for the Women’s Ashes IT20 at Edgbaston in July, as a record crowd for an non-global tournament fixture is expected.
Early Bird tickets from just £15 for adults and £5 for under 16s are still available, when purchased before 10 March.
Over 10,000 sold for Women’s IT20 vs Pakistan
Pakistan Women will be in Birmingham on Saturday 11 May 2024 and over 10,000 tickets have already been sold.
With the Men’s IT20 already sold out, this is your last chance to see Pakistan at Edgbaston next summer and tickets are available from only £17, with under 16s £5.
