England Women’s captain Knight leaves role after Ashes whitewash

LONDON: The England Cricket Board (ECB) on Saturday announced Heather Knight will leave her role as captain of the women´s team a day after head coach Jon Lewis was dismissed following a 16-0 Ashes humiliation in Australia earlier this year.

The 34-year-old Knight had captained England 199 times since 2016, guiding the team to World Cup glory in 2017 and two other finals.

“Heather Knight is to leave her role as captain of the England Women´s cricket team after nearly nine years,” the ECB said in a statement.

“She will continue to be available for England selection.” The ECB added that it “has decided to appoint a new Captain to lead the team into a new era”.

Her exit comes after former England bowler Lewis, who also oversaw a disappointing campaign at last year´s T20 World Cup, was also dismissed after a wide-ranging ECB review.

Knight earned 134 victories as captain, including leading the team to a record-breaking run of eight consecutive ODI series wins, but had disappointing displays at both the 2024 T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and the whitewash in Australia earlier this year.

“Captaining my country for the last nine years has been the biggest honour of my life and I will look back on my tenure with an enormous sense of pride,” said Knight.

“I have loved the challenge of leading the team, but all good things come to an end and it´s time for me to go back into the ranks and focus on being the best batter and team-mate that I can be for the team.”

England´s women, who have not won a trophy since the 50-over World Cup in 2017, play white-ball series against West Indies and India before a 50-over World Cup in India later this year.