The England women’s cricket team led by Heather Knight from 26th June to 17th July 2024 will host the New Zealand women’s cricket team for three One Day Internationals (ODIs) followed by five T20 Internationals (T20Is).
As the series begins in five days, England’s skipper Heather Knight in an interview with ESPNcricinfo’s Valkerie Baynes talks about how she believes her players have become ‘smarter’ while sticking to an aggressive mantra.
This is the second meeting between England and New Zealand earlier this year, as they locked horns back in March and April in New Zealand. England emerged at the top, winning the ODI series 2-1 and the T20I series 4-1.
Knight believes they have an opportunity to build on knowledge gained against the White Ferns in New Zealand earlier this year.
Reflecting on England’s tour of New Zealand, Knight explained how the team evolved into a more astute unit. She noted that playing on larger boundaries and on pitches that offered more movement during the powerplay required them to adjust their strategies and become more adaptable to varying conditions.
“Quoting, Heather, “We became a bit of a smarter team. We played on bigger boundaries, wickets that did a little bit more in the powerplay, so it wasn’t really easy to attack then. We learned how to be a bit smarter and how to adapt a little bit to different conditions.”
Adding, more to it, she said that attacking during the powerplay can be challenging. The plan was to start aggressively from the first ball and maintain pressure, but that’s not always feasible, and there can be obstacles. However, she said that they gained valuable insights from that tour.
“She said, “Sometimes it’s going to be hard to attack in the powerplay, the idea was to sort of go from ball one and keep the foot down, but that isn’t always going to be possible and sometimes there’s going to be little bumps along the road, but I think we learned a lot from that tour.”
Under Jon Lewis’ regime as head coach, England’s vision has been clear, committing to playing a harder, faster, more aggressive style of cricket. Also, according to Heather Knight, they are also becoming smarter.
Knight emphasized that their primary objective is to continually improve, play the kind of cricket they aspire to, and secure victories even when the matches are challenging.
“Our job is just to keep getting better, keep playing cricket that we want to play and also winning those games when it’s tough,” Knight said.
Recently, England played Pakistan at home, winning the T20I series 3-0 and the ODI series 2-0. Knight described the second ODI, which they won by 37 runs, acknowledging that the match at Derby wasn’t the most exciting to watch, especially as England struggled to claim the final wicket despite their overall dominance. She emphasized the importance of securing results even when conditions aren’t ideal, stating that it’s crucial to be smart and adapt to the circumstances.
“You look at that Derby game, it wasn’t probably the most exciting to watch sometimes,” she added, recalling how England failed to claim the final wicket of a match that they had otherwise dominated. “I guess in that case it is just about punching out results and trying to say, look, it wasn’t quite the perfect wicket to be able to play how we wanted to, but being smart with it and adapting to what’s in front of us.”
Knight highlighted that their ultimate goal is to inspire by winning major competitions and performing well in big events, all while maintaining an exciting and attacking style of play.
“Because ultimately our biggest chance to inspire as well is winning big competitions and performing in big events, and trying to win in the way that we want to do, which is exciting and attacking,” she stated.
With the T20 World Cup being held this year, Knight reflected on the format, emphasizing the challenge of maintaining consistency. She noted that even top opening batters in world cricket might only succeed in one out of three or four games. Knight praised Danni as one of the best openers in the world, acknowledging that she doesn’t perform well in every game but excels at managing those fluctuations.
“T20 is so hard to be consistent, it’s really a tough thing to do,” Knight said. “A top opening batter in world cricket maybe might come off one in three, one in four, and someone like Danni is one of the best openers in the world. She doesn’t come off every game and she’s brilliant at being able to manage that.”
Knight stressed the importance of clarity and strategy going into the T20 World Cup, pointing out that merely having an aggressive mindset isn’t enough. She emphasized the need for individual players to understand the specifics of their roles and approach.
(Quotes sourced from ESPNcricinfo)