England captain Heather Knight wants to put history right, winning the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup. England have won the tournament only once, in 2009.
New Delhi ,UPDATED: Feb 5, 2023 20:55 IST
Heather Knight says England want to be aggressive at the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023. (Photo: Twitter/cricketworldcup)
By India Today Web Desk: England started their journey in the Women’s T20 World Cup by winning the inaugural edition in 2009, but since then they have fallen short.
England captain Heather Knight wants to put that right in the 2023 tournament in South Africa, saying her side will play aggressively as it aims to clinch their only second ICC T20I trophy.
“We haven’t lifted the trophy since 2009 and we’d quite like to put that right. We felt in a great place in 2020 before the rain intervened at Sydney but in many ways that feels like a lifetime ago, with COVID-19 entering the mix soon after,” said Knight in an ICC column.
“We want to be aggressive, we want to choose the positive option when the game’s in the balance and we want to entertain and inspire. We know on our day that we can be a match for anyone, our job now is to ensure we have our day as regularly as possible – to keep being aggressive, taking the game forward and backing our strengths.”
Last year, Knight remained on the sidelines for quite some time owing to a hip injury. Along with her, Nat Sciver missed few matches as she was focusing on her mental health. In the absence of some senior players, England found new young faces in Charlie Dean and Alice Capsey, who made the most of their limited opportunities.
“Last summer we had a few players out, myself included, and while that was tough from a performance point of view it was quite valuable in terms of exposing some of our younger players and giving them the opportunity to showcase their skill on the big stage,” Knight said.
“That’s led to a group of younger players coming to the fore and that’s an exciting sign for our future. The likes of Charlie Dean, Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey and Maia Bouchier have their first shot at an ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which we know they’ll relish. As well as that we’ve got a lot of senior players eager for T20 success!”
England will begin its campaign against West Indies at Boland Park, Paarl on February 11.
