Heather Knight still wants to play despite London Spirit role as GM is a chance to begin transition to post-playing career.
Heather Knight not ready to ‘hang up boots’ despite new London Spirit role.
The former captain of England’s women’s team, Heather Knight, insists that her new position as London Spirit’s Women’s General Manager does not indicate that she is going to end her playing career. She does admit, though, that the opportunity to gain experience in a formal administrative position may be essential to her move into a post-playing future.
Speaking at Lord’s on the day that London Spirit unveiled its new logo for the 2026 season, which will, as expected, feature the egg-and-bacon colours of the team’s co-owners, MCC, Knight emphasised that playing for England will remain her top priority, even at this summer’s T20 World Cup, where she is expected to play a key role.
“I was injured a lot last year, and that gave me a little bit of time to think,” Knight said. “As you do get a little bit further in your career, you know that it’s not going to last forever. I’ve loved my time playing in the Hundred, and being involved with the franchise as a player and as a coach, and it just felt like the right opportunity for me at this time of my career. It means that I can continue to play and still fulfil the playing ambitions that I’ve got.”
She recently returned from a WBBL stint with Sydney Thunder, and she stated that playing for Somerset during the early season will be her first objective in preparation for the T20 World Cup in June and July. Following that, she will concentrate on the Hundred, which begins on July 21. However, she states that this will not necessarily be a long-term move to an off-field position.
“It’s not a sign that I’m going to hang up the boots,” she said. “Part of the negotiation around me taking this job was that playing for England comes first, and I still have a lot of ambitions in terms of the playing side of things. The last couple of years has probably taught me that looking too far ahead is actually quite detrimental in terms of your playing career. I really want to enjoy what I’m doing and stay in the moment.”
“I think that worked really well for me during the 50-over World Cup,” she added, having topped England’s averages during their run to the semi-finals, with 288 runs at 48.00 including a matchwinning century against the hosts India.
“You obviously have a huge amount of your life being a professional cricketer, and that’s very much linked to your identity as well, because you spend more time with your team-mates than you do your family,” she said. “I obviously know a lot of people that have transitioned out of playing, and it’s not the easiest thing to do, so part of me doing this is being quite proactive in terms of what comes next, and managing that career transition when eventually it does come.”