Heather Knight has been asked so many times she can finish the question. The challenge, as she sees it, is making the upcoming T20 World Cup the moment she is no longer talking about how far the women’s game has come.
Knight – who lifted the trophy last time England hosted a World Cup, the 50-over edition in 2017 – believes there is progress still to be made. And, while suggesting that the sport could have done more to cash in on that success of nine years ago, she longs for a time when progress goes from being the central theme to part of the sport’s history.
“Where I stop getting asked how far the game’s come? I would quite like to get to that point at some point,” she interjects partway through being asked the inevitable. “When we get to the point where it’s just the game that’s talked about, it’s just cricket, this is where the game’s at, journalists looking at how the game’s played and scrutinising it, we’ll know that we’re in an amazing place if it comes to that.
“It’s ultimately professional sport and it’s great and it’s tough and you have highs and lows as a professional athlete. When we get to the point where everyone stops asking how far the game’s come, we’ll know we’re in a very good place.”
Knight was speaking at an event for Schools Cricket Day, aimed at encouraging schoolchildren to play cricket and marking 50 days to go until the T20 World Cup starts with England facing Sri Lanka at Edgbaston on June 12.
Her vision was in keeping with tournament organisers’ mission statement of making women’s cricket mainstream, something she feels the sport failed to do in the wake of her team’s 2017 success.
“To be honest, I didn’t really see the sort of overnight flip in women’s cricket becoming mainstream and I think there’s a lot of reasons for that,” Knight said. “Maybe the infrastructure wasn’t quite there. The plan to get women’s cricket and grow it and build it probably wasn’t there.
“There was a great moment and everyone had a buzz around women’s cricket and then it seemed to disappear a little bit and obviously without the professional domestic structure below as well, you didn’t have the scaffolding to make the most of that success and that opportunity.
“But it does feel like this, where the game is at now, is so different, isn’t it? The professional set-up, the opportunity for girls to play cricket, the pathway is definitely there and the visibility, not just in World Cups, but in all the games that we play as England players and as domestic players. So I do think that this tournament is going to be set up to be huge from the start.”
Knight was a year into the England captaincy in 2017, a post she held until last 2025, when she was replaced by Nat Sciver-Brunt. One year on from saying she looked forward to “being one of the girls again” post-captaincy and after a devastating hamstring injury forced her into a race to be fit for the 2025 World Cup, where England reached the semi-finals, Knight is keen to return to competitive action.
England haven’t played since the 50-over World Cup ended early last November and are now preparing to host New Zealand from May 10, followed by a visit from India ahead of the T20 showpiece.
“That’s been quite strange,” Knight says. “I know there’s reasons why we haven’t [played internationally], and I think it’s just making the most of the situation we’re in and trying to give us the best prep for obviously what’s a huge competition.
“It’s certainly given a wider group of players a chance to state their claim and there’s certainly been that competitiveness and lots of people fighting it out for different positions. You certainly feel like you’re on your toes.”
England took an expanded touring party of 30 players to South Africa last month for a series of intra-squad games between separate groups of 15. But now, as England prepare for the biggest season on their calendar in recent times, Knight is ready to test herself against some international opponents.
“I feel in a good place,” Knight adds. “Ultimately, playing cricket for me and time in the middle is the best way for me to get ready to perform this summer. I’ve managed to get a few games for Somerset and hopefully [I’ll have] a few more.
“But for me, I guess at 35 as well and having my hamstring go ‘ping’ last year, it’s making sure I’m getting enough cricket. I love playing for Somerset as well, but also getting myself fresh and in a place where I can hopefully perform for England in this summer.”
Knight was one of England’s standout performers in a batting line-up which failed to fire at the most recent World Cup. And, despite moving into an off-field role with London Spirit for this year’s Hundred, she isn’t ready to put a time limit on her playing days.
“I’m not looking too far ahead because I know that doesn’t really help me,” she says. “If I’m performing, if I’m fit, if I’m ultimately enjoying it and want to be here and I wanted to be in an England shirt, I’ll take it tour by tour and see how we go.
“I’m very much focused on the T20 World Cup and then we’ll take it from there, as I have done in the last sort of two, three years, it’s been series by series and based on how I feel and how I’m playing.”
