Heather Knight resigns as England captain after nine-year reign

Heather Knight stepped down from her role as England captain on Saturday, March 22, after serving for nine years. She follows Jon Lewis, who resigned from his role as head coach a day before.

The 34-year-old Knight led England in 199 matches across the three formats. She makes way amid an ongoing review of the team's shambolic 0–16 Women's Ashes whitewash to arch-rivals Australia earlier this year. That had been preceded by a disappointing group-stage exit at the Women's T20 World Cup in October. She will continue to be available for selection for the national team but only as a specialist batter.

Apart from the recent spell of insipid results, Knight will look back on her captaincy career with pride. Appointed as captain in June 2016, replacing Charlotte Edwards, Knight led England to a famous home World Cup victory in 2017, and two other ICC tournament finals in 2018 and 2022. The ECB have decided to ring in the changes after disappointing results in recent matches. The new England skipper is expected to be named in the coming days.

"Captaining my country for the last nine years has been the biggest honour of my life and I will look back on my tenure with an enormous sense of pride. I have loved the challenge of leading the team, but all good things come to an end, and it's time for me to go back into the ranks and focus on being the best batter and teammate that I can be for the team. Winning the ICC Women's World Cup on home turf at Lord's in 2017 will always be a huge highlight, but being a part of the huge steps forward made in the women's game off the pitch brings me just as much pride," Knight was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

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Thank you to all: Knight

Knight did not forget to thank the coaches she had worked with during her captaincy tenure. She also expressed her gratitude to the fans and family members for their support, which remained constant even during the tough times.

"Thank you to all the players and staff, who have given it everything along the way - especially Mark, Lisa and Jon, three head coaches that I've loved working with. The people make the job. Thank you to the fans that have supported me and the team through the highs and the lows. Finally, to my friends, family and long-suffering partner Tim, you live the journey with me and I wouldn't be here without your support. I have loved being England Captain, it's been the most rewarding period of my career, but for now I'm excited to focus on my batting and supporting the team and the new captain in the best way I can," she said.

The Plymouth-born has played 14 Tests, 149 ODIs, and 129 T20Is, scoring more than 7,000 runs and picking up 84 wickets in internationals.