Heather Knight says she will need to make “an emotional decision” about her future as captain in the next few weeks after England suffered a 16-0 Ashes whitewash – the worst result of her nine-year tenure.
The England and Wales Cricket Board have already confirmed they will be conducting a post-series review, that is certain to involve a discussion with Knight about her role as Australia completed their series domination with victory by an innings and 122 runs in the day/night Test.
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“Things are pretty raw and the coming weeks are a time for everyone to reflect on what we could have done better and how we’re going to improve as a side,” Knight said. “That [retaining the captaincy] is an emotional decision that’s not going to be made now – it’s one for the coming weeks. It’s been a frustrating tour. We unfortunately haven’t played our best cricket here, and we’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do.”
England’s defeat in Melbourne was a seventh consecutive loss after defeats in the three ODIs and three T20s. Knight accepted some responsibility for the defeat, but expressed her desire to continue to represent England, saying she would use the “hunger” of the loss as motivation to improve.
“Australia is always a tough place to come and tour as a cricketer,” she said. “But ultimately we haven’t played well enough and you’re going to feel that on your shoulders as a leader. We’ll regroup at some point before the season. I think there’ll be some really honest conversations and reflections individually.”
The England head coach, Jon Lewis, promised a thorough review into a historic Ashes whitewash and insisted he was the “right guy” to lead them back from being demolished in Australia. Lewis told TNT Sports: “We review everything all the time, we reflect and we try and grow the team and the sport. Just to do it after every away Ashes series is probably not the right way to do it.
“We will look at every single aspect of what we do internally and I’m sure the people who work externally from this group, in particular, will look at that as well. We will have to learn and move the team forward. We obviously need to compete better across the bilateral series we play against Australia, but we’ve also got World Cups as well. We’ve got a 50-over World Cup coming up in India this year and we’ve got to turn around things really quickly because it’s only eight or nine months away.”
Lewis’ position has come under scrutiny in Australia over the past few weeks and he was asked about his future after England’s fate was sealed in Melbourne. He said: “I strongly feel that there’s real growth left in this group of players. We’ve got some really young players that have played throughout this series. I really feel I haven’t finished the job I came here to do. Obviously the results haven’t gone the way we want them, but I’m really committed to the people in the dressing room and to growing women’s cricket in England. So, yeah, I feel I am the right guy to do it.”
The Australia captain, Alyssa Healy, said that though her team had not set out with the goal of a whitewash, it became apparent quickly that England were unable to exploit any moments of advantage. “Every single time I thought England might have just been in the game, one of our players stepped up and slammed that door shut really quickly,” she said.
She attributed their success to the team culture of unity: “It’s the trust and the connection. Everyone gets along. We try and use that on the field as well: how can we help each other on the field, and get the best out of one another.”
Healy also confirmed she would be withdrawing from the forthcoming Women’s Premier League in an effort to ensure she is fit for October’s World Cup, after struggling with knee and foot injuries throughout the Ashes. “I’ve got a couple of months with my feet up, to try and get my body right,” she said.
