With seven matches across three formats in the coming weeks, followed by the Women’s Ashes in Australia in January, Knight insisted now was not the time for “big changes” in a team that achieved an unbeaten summer at home against Pakistan and New Zealand. . , and was looking forward to fighting for his first T20 World Cup title since 2009.
“We didn’t become a bad team because we played badly in 10 overs in the World Cup,” Knight said on the eve of the first T20I. “Before that, we played brilliant cricket, so it’s obviously a bump in the road. It will keep us quite humble and motivated to improve, but I think it’s really important that we don’t.” “I will not uproot trees.”
Knight, who turns 34 next month, has encountered some ups and downs for England in his 14-year career, including captaining the team until their victory in the 50-over World Cup in 2017. However, he acknowledged that the Reaction to his departure was more scathing than anything I had previously encountered, with his former team-mate Alex Hartley leading the inquisition with his suggestion that some of the England players were letting the team down with their fitness level.
“It’s the biggest response I’ve seen as a player, for sure, and it’s a good lesson for us,” Knight said. “As the game grows and there are more eyes on us, and there is more reward for being an international cricketer, naturally that scrutiny will increase and it is actually a very good sign of where the game is at.
“How we deal with it and how we move forward is really important,” he added. “It’s about looking at the people around you and staying strong within the group. Ultimately, the most important opinions that are important to us as players and staff are in this circle, in the people around us.”
“We’ve been pretty clear with Alice about the reasons we left her out,” Knight said. “That’s probably down to the consistency of performance. We’re excited to see what Sophia does. She’s obviously gone through times where she was dropped and had to improve, and forced her way into the side. We feel like she’s done that, with the form “That is what has been shown on the networks. Now it’s her turn to translate those changes into the medium.”
After recovering from his World Cup injury, Knight showed that his fitness is back on track during his recent spell with Sydney Thunder in the WBBL. However, she insisted her presence as captain was not critical to the team’s fortunes as they prepare to face a South Africa team that has already reached each of the last two T20 World Cup finals.
“There are a lot of leaders in this group,” Knight said. “That spell [against West Indies] It was an unfair representation of the leaders we have in the group, and I really feel that people like Nat [Sciver-Brunt]Amy [Jones] and sofia [Ecclestone] I’ve really grown in that role as older players have in the last year or two.
“I still enjoy leading the group, and part of that role is trying to grow the people around me and put the younger players in a place where they can almost lead themselves. But I don’t think the team is completely lost “. without me “That’s not a narrative I totally agree with.”
With the Ashes approaching the new year, Knight admitted it was difficult not to have “half an eye” on that challenge in Australia, but acknowledged the best possible preparation was to compete well against South Africa, the team that finished off Australia 14-1. year they reign as T20 world champions with their semi-final victory in Dubai last month.
“We are very excited to play here in South Africa,” Knight said. “It’s a brilliant sporting nation. You know what you’re going to get from South Africa. They’re going to be very passionate, very aggressive and very proud of how they do their business.
“We certainly don’t expect an easy challenge for South Africa, that’s for sure. The team has just reached back-to-back T20 World Cup finals, so no one is expecting anything less than a pretty tough challenge.
“The South Africans have grown up a lot in the last few years and have really become a bit more aggressive, particularly with the bat. So how we deal with that will be really important in this series.” To prove a point, I think that depends on the individual. Some people will be driven by that, others will just want to keep improving and doing what they do really well. “It’s a good media narrative to write, but we just want to bring our best cricket, continue to grow as a team and adapt to what’s in front of us.”
Andrew Miller is UK editor for ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket
