ICC World Cup 2019 | Hopefully this day could be a landmark for cricket in this country, says Heather Knight
Heather Knight, who won the World Cup with the England womenâs team in 2017, said that she hopes the menâs triumph at Lordâs becomes a landmark for the sport in the UK. Knight said that many of her friends were tuned in, texted her many times trying to wrap their head around the game.
The game of cricket may have been invented by the Englishman. The Lordâs may indeed be the Mecca of cricket. But, there is no doubt that cricket isnât the UKâs no.1 sport. Itâs football. The last time the nation turned all its heads towards cricket was during the Ashes summer of 2005. But, for more than a decade after that, English cricket had nothing else to pride itself on, apart from a T20 World Cup.
Then, the womenâs team, led by Knight, lifted the World Cup in 2017. It was a turning point for womenâs cricket, not just in the UK, but all over the world. Now, theyâve finally scaled the pinnacle in menâs cricket as well. Writing in the ICCâs media column, Knight said that she is hopeful for the future of the sport in her country after the recent achievements.Â
âTheyâve really captured everyone. I had quite a few friends watching the final and texting me asking me about the rules â these were people who had never really seen the game.. You hope it can be a moment like the 2005 Ashes for England cricket where everyone is talking about it and completely absorbed by whatâs happening. It was the perfect final for that. Hopefully this day could be a landmark for cricket in this countryâ Knight wrote, reported Scroll.Â
The England captain for the womenâs, wrote from her experience two years ago, when they edged India by nine runs to lift the title at Lordâs. She wrote how, in the weeks and months that followed, little stories began to pop up of the influence the win had on people.Â
âItâs a surreal feeling, I found it very strange and really inspirational. You hear the stories of the people who were there, those who werenât, where they watched it and how itâs inspired them and their kids. There were a few ex-England players who were trying to get their girls to play cricket for years and it took until they saw us winning the 2017 World Cup for them to get on board. Itâs little stories that you hear in the weeks and months after the event that really make the difference,â Knight wrote.Â
She also expressed her joy for the all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokesâ 98-ball 84, and some heroics in the super over won him the Man of the Match award in the final. Throughout the World Cup, he stepped with bat, ball, and in the field in crucial moments.
âYou could see how much he wanted to get the team over the line â at times it looked like there was redemption for him from the disappointment of Kolkata and the ICC World T20 final, and I think he felt it was his opportunity to take the game and turn things around for him personally. Iâm really chuffed for him, heâs desperate to do well for England and heâs a real character and heartbeat of that team.â she wrote.
Knight, also, sympathised with the heartbreak that New Zealand went through, losing in the fashion that they did.Â
âYou have to feel for New Zealand, no team deserved to lose that,â Knight added.
