Tash Farrant hailed Heather Knight as “one of the greats” after the previous England captain introduced her retirement from worldwide cricket.
Knight, 35, will make her England exit alongside Tammy Beaumont on the conclusion of the primary ladies’s Take a look at match at Lord’s towards India this week.
Making her debut in 2010, Knight has gone on to win 320 caps for England, whereas she captained the facet from 2016 to 2025, most notably main the workforce to a memorable victory within the 2017 Ladies’s Cricket World Cup on house soil.
“It’s a huge moment, isn’t it? She has been one of the greats to ever play for England,” former team-mate Farrant mentioned on Sky Sports activities Cricket.
“She’s been so integral to England cricket and ladies’s cricket basically over the past 16 years her profession has spanned.
“She would have needed to exit on her personal phrases. Not lots of people are ready to do this, and she or he loves Take a look at match cricket as nicely, so to have the ability to play a Take a look at match at Lord’s – the primary – I am not shocked by the choice
“England are going to really miss her.”
‘Gritty’, ‘hardy’ Knight beloved the robust occasions
Farrant added: “I think it will be that 2017 World Cup title here [at Lord’s] that will be remembered forever.
“And really, she got here in at a tricky time, to observe Charlotte Edwards as England captain is not any simple factor to do. For her to have the ability to galvanise that workforce rapidly and win that World Cup.
Heather Knight led England to victory within the 2017 50-over World Cup
“Something that I always admired about her is she was so gritty on the pitch, such a hardy cricketer.
“She beloved these robust occasions, and felt that that is what made her a greater cricketer.”
Knight is currently ranked third among England’s all-time leading run-scorers in T20I and ODI cricket, while she was also the first English player to score centuries in all three formats.
But Farrant also stressed that it was Knight’s often ‘unnoticed’ work off the field that she would most remember her for.
“Enjoying underneath her, she was such chief – extra so for the issues that she did off the sphere,” Farrant added.
“She was certainly one of, if not the toughest employee in coaching, together with her health.
“As a young player coming through, you can get swept up in international cricket, can’t you? And you can lose the bits of your life – your friends, your family – because you’re so immersed in it.
“I all the time had an admiration for Heather as she all the time had such a stunning stability between working onerous – ensuring you probably did the whole lot, so that you’re able to be on that pitch – but additionally the opposite stuff once we went away on tour, ensuring as a captain we bought to go and immerse ourselves within the tradition of this new nation we have been in.
“They’re the memories that I’ll have of her. Not just on the pitch, but the stuff that she did off the pitch. The things that go a little bit unnoticed sometimes.”
Heather Knight was the primary English participant to attain a century in all three codecs
‘Good timing for Knight retirement’
Fellow former England worldwide, Ebony Rainford-Brent, additionally labelled Knight as a “great” however believes it is the proper time for her to retire.
“My first thought was good timing, to be honest,” Rainford-Brent mentioned. “I think it’s really important to go out on a high.
“She has executed a lot for the sport. She’s captained right here in a World Cup remaining win at Lords.
“She would have hoped they could have won again on home soil [in the T20 World Cup], but she got to the final, and I think she’s just looking forward, thinking, ‘I’ve got a lot to give off the field and I’ve given everything on it’.
“Exit when your identify remains to be at its peak. There’s nothing worse than gamers who sort of drag it out.”
