Heather Knight was non-committal about overseeing England’s next crack at Australia in the 2025 Women’s Ashes, admitting she is “consciously” focusing on the here and now.
Australia’s stranglehold in the multi-format series continued as they walked away with the main prize earlier this month but Knight’s side spiritedly turned a 6-0 points deficit into an 8-8 stalemate.
Even though England were unable to overcome Australia for the first time since 2013/14, the drawn series and several tense finishes backed up the suggestion the gap between the rivals is narrowing.
Outside of World Cups, England’s next chance against the benchmark in the women’s game is set to be in early 2025 in Australia although Knight, who will be 34 by then, is not thinking that far ahead.
Knight, who was appointed England captain in June 2016, told the PA news agency: “I haven’t really thought about it. It feels like quite a long way away.
“At the moment, I’m just trying to consciously not look too far ahead, I just focus on what is on the immediate future and try and get myself and the team in the best place for that. Who knows?
“Ashes series are amazing to be involved in, I love playing Ashes cricket, so we’ll see.”
The recently-concluded series was held at major venues in England and attracted around 110,000 people across seven matches, pushing the women’s game into the public’s consciousness like never before.
Knight believes the unprecedented success of this summer’s Ashes, which ran concurrently to the men’s series, owes a debt of gratitude to The Hundred, which will start its third edition on Tuesday.
While there is continued scrutiny on the future of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s 100-ball competition, it is widely-regarded for having helped the women’s game bloom, a point reinforced by Knight, who feels parts of The Hundred’s commercial operations were adopted for the Ashes.
Knight, who will juggle playing and captaincy duties for London Spirit with a commentary role on the BBC, said: “I actually think The Hundred has been a big part of what happened in the Ashes this summer.
“It probably changed perceptions at the ECB that if you market it properly then people will come and watch. I think that led to the Ashes this series being marketed how it was.
“It was probably our most visible series ever. Hopefully, both international cricket and The Hundred can feed off each other and keep getting more girls involved.
“I certainly noticed loads more young girls at our games, knowing everything about the game which is pretty awesome to see.”
The Spirit begin their campaign at Lord’s against London rivals Oval Invincibles in a men’s and women’s
double header on Wednesday, with Knight returning after missing last year’s competition through injury.
While the Ashes only wrapped up a fortnight ago, Knight is ready to go after a few days at home with friends and family.
The 32-year-old said: “I was absolutely knackered the first days afterwards, I didn’t really realise how tired I was till everything stopped and the adrenaline ran out. The schedule was pretty full on.
“But I had a good few days to recharge. I feel like I’ve had a bit of a mental refresh. I usually get bored sitting around for too long, so it’s nice to get back. I’m really excited.”
Knight will be able to call upon fast bowler Lauren Filer, who had an eye-catching international debut as she troubled Australia’s batters with her pace in the one-off Test at Trent Bridge.
Knight added: “She’s got something a bit different, she’s the quickest in the country and gets good bounce. She’s still trying to find how she works but she’s a great weapon to have as a captain.”
:: There will be 16 games in The Hundred shown live on BBC TV and iPlayer – matches are on TV every Wednesday and Saturday. Plus, every ball is available live on BBC Radio 5 Live, 5 Sports Extra and Sounds while text commentary is on the BBC Sport website and app.
Record-breaking Root edges England closer to Sri Lanka victory
Joe Root hit a record-breaking century as England edged closer to sealing their series victory over Sri Lanka at Lord's.
Root, who equalled Alastair Cook's record during the first innings of the second Test, made 103 from 111 balls for his 34th Test ton.
England resumed on 25-1 at the start of day three, with Root leading the way for the hosts and the crowd rose as one when a sweeping four completed his landmark century.
He helped his nation set their opponents a target of 483 after they were 251 all out.
As the light faded over Lord's, so too did Sri Lanka's momentum in their record-attempting chase, with Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone claiming Nishan Madushka and Pathum Nissanka respectively.
Play was eventually halted due to bad light, and called off to be resumed on Sunday with the tourists at 53-2 with Dimuth Karunaratne (23) and Prabath Jayasuriya (three) at the crease.
Data Debrief: Root revels on record-breaking day
Day three of the second Test belonged to Root, whose century was also his quickest in Test cricket.
Adding to his 143 in England's first innings, he registered two tons in a match for the first time, while becoming only the fourth player to achieve that feat in a Test at Lord's.
Root also joins Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar in scoring 5,000 Test runs in two different decades, while closing the gap on Cook's all-time England tally (12,472) to just 95.
If that was not enough for him, he also took the catches for both of Sri Lanka's wickets, making him the first England player to reach 200 in Test cricket.
Last Hurrah: Dwayne Bravo to call time on CPL career after this year's edition
Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo says this year’s edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be his last hurrah as he announced his retirement from the tournament on Saturday.
Bravo, who represents the Trinbago Knight Riders, made the revelation on his Instagram account hours ahead of the franchise’s opening contest against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Basseterre, scheduled for 7:00pm.
“It's been a great journey, and I'm looking forward to playing my final professional tournament in front of my Caribbean people," Bravo said in his post.
“TKR is the place where everything started for me and will end with my team,” he added.
The 40-year-old’s post all but indicates the end of a decorated professional career, as he retired from international cricket in 2021 after the T20 World Cup and also announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL) a year later after being part of four title-winning Chennai Super Kings campaigns.
Bravo, known for his flair and skillful batting and bowling, is currently the CPL’s highest wicket-taker with 128 scalps in 103 games at an average of 22.40 and economy rate of 8.69.
In fact, Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in all T20s, with 630 scalps in 578 matches. He has also scored 6,970 runs with the bat.
No doubt the electrifying Trinidad and Tobago stalwart will go down as one of T20's early legends, having played seven World Cups in the format, winning two titles, as well as over 15 franchise league titles. He is the first bowler to get to 500 T20 wickets.
CWI targets domestic T20 competition in 2025 to identify Caribbean representative(s) for 2028 Olympic Games
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Dr. Kishore Shallow says plans are already afoot to host a domestic T20 competition next year to determine the Caribbean representative(s) for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Shallow, once again welcoming cricket’s return to the Olympic Games, pointed out that his administration is already in dialogue with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hierarchy to stage the domestic competition in 2025.
Cricket, which last featured at an Olympic Games in 1900, was always set for a long-awaited return to the global multi-sport showpiece, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year confirmed it and four other sports—baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, and squash—for the LA Games.
“To add cricket to the agenda in the next Olympics is certainly going to be something tremendous, as we did in the Commonwealth Games a couple years ago when we had one of our teams representing the females. We at the time chose our original women’s tournament, and the winner at the time was Barbados, so they represented the region,” Shallow said.
“We anticipate something similar will be done unless they tell us all the teams can come and participate, which would be ideal, but it is unlikely for that to happen,” he added.
Shallow also explained that the CPL champions cannot represent the region at the Olympic Games given that the tournament is franchise-based and involves players from other parts of the world.
As such, he revealed that he has engaged CARICOM leaders regarding plans for a domestic T20 competition from which the winner or top finishers would secure the coveted Olympic Games spot(s).
“We have been in discussion with CPL for them to fund a domestic T20 tournament starting next year. I think Miles Bascombe and his team have already scheduled a window for that next year in 2025. Once we are able to have that tournament, then we can use that to determine which team or teams will participate in the Olympics on behalf of CWI,” Shallow shared.
“We can’t use the CPL as it is now because it’s franchises. But in the domestic tournament that we’re having, which will still have a commercial model to it but not to the extent of CPL, but that will more than likely be territories instead of franchises, so we will be able to identify teams,” he noted.
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