The study conducted by Nielsen Sports also discovered that 84 per cent of general sports fans are interested in women’s sport.

[caption id=”attachment_84124″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″] Knight captained her country to World Cup glory last summer[/caption]

As well evaluating the general interest in women’s sport, the study sought to find out who are the most recognisable female athletes in the UK. Although not British, tennis superstar Serena Williams topped the list, followed by Olympic heroes Jessica Ennis-Hill and Laura Kenny.

[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]However, Knight, Shrubsole and England football captain Steph Houghton were deemed the most recognisable female athletes from team sports.

The research, which surveyed 1,000 sports fans from the UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand, revealed that women’s sport is regarded as more inspiring and ‘cleaner’ than men’s sport.