Heather Knight Leaves England Role After Nine Year Reign Following Ashes Humiliation

Heather Knight has been sacked as the captain of the England Women's Team. The decision came in the aftermath of the humiliating 16-0 Ashes defeat against Australia recently. Earlier Jon Lewis also left his role as the head coach of the Three Lions Women's team.

Heather Knight Leaves England Captaincy Role

As quoted by Cricbuzz, Richard Gould, ECB's Chief Executive Officer, said: "I'm immensely thankful for everything Heather has given in her time as Captain. The World Cup win and the thrilling 2023 Women's Ashes will live long in the memory.

“Heather's influence as Captain has extended far beyond her impact on the pitch. Through her leadership and dedication, she has inspired many women and girls to get involved in the sport, fuelling the transformation of women's cricket we have seen since 2016.”

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Knight led England in the T20 World Cup in UAE last year but they failed to get past the group stage. The Ashes defeat proved to be the final nail in the coffin and the ECB is now expected to finalise his replacement. Both Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones filled in her absence a number of times while Charlie Dean is tipped to be his permanent successor.

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Heather Knight Reflects On His Leadership

Knight reflected on her captaincy journey after leaving her role.

"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. 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 teammate that I can be for the team.

"Winning the ICC Women's World Cup on home turf at Lord's in 2017 will always be a huge highlight, but being a part of the huge steps forward made in the women's game off the pitch brings me just as much pride...Thank you to all the players and staff, who have given it everything along the way.

"I have loved being England Captain, it's been the most rewarding period of my career, but for now I'm excited to focus on my batting and supporting the team and the new captain in the best way I can."

England will now host West Indies in May and then they will take on India in a T20I series followed by an ODI series.