Knight: Progress of ladies’s franchise cricket key to England bridging hole to Australia
H
eather Knight believes the expansion of ladies’s franchise cricket has performed an important position in serving to her England facet bridge the hole to world champions Australia.
The Women’s Ashes right now continues with the First ODI in Bristol, with England needing to win to maintain the collection alive however buoyed by having overwhelmed Australia for the primary time since 2019 in final week’s Second T20 on the Oval, which they adopted up by inflicting the vacationers’ first back-to-back losses in six years at Lord’s.
This is the primary Ashes collection to happen because the delivery of the Women’s Premier League, the sister match of the lads’s Indian Premier League, and quite a lot of England stars performed key roles within the inaugural version earlier this yr. Spinner Sophie Ecclestone completed because the joint-leading wicket-taker, whereas Issy Wong and Nat Sciver-Brunt have been a part of the champion Mumbai Indians facet, who beat a Delhi Capitals crew that includes teenager Alice Capsey within the remaining.
“It’s playing in big moments, in front of big crowds,” Knight mentioned.
“As an overseas player, you’re expected to go out and win games of cricket for whichever franchise you’re playing for. That brings added pressure and players being in that situation a lot more is a really useful thing.”
This can be the primary residence Ashes collection performed because the launch of the Hundred, the ECB’s flagship home competitors which is able to start its third season subsequent month.
While some sides of the match have been criticised, there was common reward for its elevation of the ladies’s recreation and Knight says England are reaping the rewards now.
“Having that experience regularly for the girls has been huge, and having that domestic set-up that’s a lot higher standard,” she mentioned.
“As an England player, you’re expected to go and perform and I think having that experience had been really beneficial, especially for our younger girls.”