Under The Lid: Heather Knight

There are some things 
in life you don’t get offered twice, like a place at Cambridge or the England captaincy. Heather Knight turned Cambridge down because it wasn’t right for her, but the captaincy, well, that she knew she had to take, even though it didn’t come at the most straightforward of times.

“I felt for Charlotte,” Knight explains to AOC as we meet up the day after England’s record-breaking second ODI against Pakistan at Worcester. “I’m good mates with her and it was certainly a case of mixed emotions. I’ve played with Lottie for a long time and knew how much it would hurt her and how gutted she would be to not pull
 on an England shirt again. I knew that was tough but I also knew that I was probably the best person to do the job.”

Cambridge, on the other hand, didn’t feel right. Cardiff did, so she chose there. Her family, on the whole, backed her 
in making that decision – undeniably a brave one. “They’ve always wanted me 
to make my own decisions and I guess 
my own mistakes sometimes, as well. Hopefully it wasn’t too much of a mistake. I think I made the right choice.” You get the sense that this is a person who isn’t afraid to forge her own path; a handy characteristic for a captain.

As captaincy gigs go, though, Knight’s 
is pretty tough. Replacing a universally popular standard bearer for the game 
who was still making runs, off the back
 of a decision which split opinion, with a squad that – while talented – is young and unproven. Vital then that the ‘new era’ started well. “We knew that if we started badly, or if we had a batting collapse, things would be said and people would argue
 that the changes that have been made aren’t right,” Knight outlines. Fortunately, they started well. Knight’s first game as skipper brought a win, and, individually, a half-century and a maiden five-wicket haul. Dream world. The second, which saw England make 378-5 – their highest-ever ODI total – was, amazingly, even better.

“I’m sure there will be a time when I read criticism. That’s the nature of the job. Like Mark said, it might be a case of using it as motivation.”

One aspect of England’s struggles towards the end of Charlotte Edwards’ time in charge was the perception that too many of the team – young and inexperienced
 as they were – would gladly follow their skipper blindly into the abyss. As Edwards explained to David Tossell in his book The Girls Of Summer: “They are a young group and don’t want to say the wrong thing. But I don’t know everything.”

Knight is keen, therefore, that the new era allows everyone in the team their voice. “We’re trying to push all the girls to make their own decisions and be really forthcoming with their own opinions. We want everyone to be comfortable expressing themselves.”

Does that mean Knight, apparently so stubborn, will encourage advice from her teammates? “Yeah, definitely. I won’t always take it but I’m very keen to hear it!” Fortunately, whether Knight listens to her teammates or not, she’s demonstrated that she’s got a track record of making the right calls.