“The success of women’s football at The Hundred, I think a lot of that can be carried over to the international game”; Heather Knight hopes the women of England can draw bigger crowds for their white ball series against New Zealand on the back of The Hundred
Heather Knight hopes England women will get bigger crowds for their series against New Zealand after The Hundred
Heather Knight hopes the success of The Hundred will translate into bigger crowds for England’s women’s white ball series against New Zealand.
17,116 attended the women’s final, which broke a record set on the tournament’s opening night for the largest audience for a national women’s cricket match anywhere in the world.
England have played against a sold-out Lord’s for the World Cup final in 2017, but Knight admitted it felt like an isolated occasion.
“To be honest, I think 2017 unfortunately felt a bit unique. It was obviously an amazing day, but the momentum didn’t really capitalize. [on] I think, “Knight said.
“So I think with The Hundred, the success that they’ve had is about trying to transfer those plans so they attend more regularly and I think that’s one thing with women’s sport, not just women’s cricket, but women’s sport. All in all, if there’s an event that’s really well supported it’s just about making sure you transfer them throughout the year and getting people to come and support the game throughout the year.
“I think the success of women’s football at The Hundred, I think a lot of that can be carried over to the international game.
“I’d love to see the same marketing budget, T20 on a Friday night, some of the great grounds, Lord’s, Old Trafford wherever it is and try to complete that for us a couple times a year … that would be awesome .
“So hopefully that momentum that The Hundred has and the people who have been involved in it will carry over to more people in our games and more people interested in cricket.”
England will play New Zealand in three Twenty20 internationals and five one-day internationals in September, as they look to cement a team to retain their World Cup title in New Zealand in 2022.
Last year, the Cricket Board of England and Wales announced 41 full-time domestic contracts for female cricketers, in addition to the 17 players hired centrally and outside of The Hundred, and Knight believes the deals are beginning to have an impact.
“There have been a lot of players who have stood up and performed and that has been so good in terms of selection that it is probably the broadest group of players that we have talked about since I became captain, that’s for sure,” he said the captain of England. .
She added: “It is [The Hundred] it’s going to be a big thing for women’s cricket, but I don’t think we’ll necessarily see the impact right away. In terms of the next series, I think that impact will be seen for years to come.
“I think the biggest impact for me and us as cricketers is being able to play under that kind of pressure and the crowd is constantly going to be huge for us, how we handle it as players and the players who really embrace it and grow.” under that pressure it’s going to be a great learning [curve] I think.
“If we will see the translation of cricket fans directly into international women’s matches, I really hope so, but we will have to wait and see.”
Watch the first international T20 match between England and New Zealand, in Chelmsford, live on Sky Sports Cricket starting at 6pm on Wednesday.
