Heather Knight says talk of her future as England captain is “not for now” with two matches remaining in the Women’s Ashes.
England have lost the series after slipping 10-0 in points, were beaten 3-0 by Australia in the tour’s one-day international before being beaten in the first two T20 internationals
Knight scored 43 not out from 19 balls in Canberra on Thursday, only for England’s 186-ball chase to victory to be ruined by rain late in the final as Australia triumphed by six runs at Duckworth-Lewis-Stern.
England have not won the Women’s Ashes since 2014 with Australia’s four wins and two series draws since then.
Their objective in the ongoing competition is to avoid a whitewash, with another T20 international in Adelaide on Saturday and the day-night Test match in Melbourne from January 30 following.
Knight, who has been captain since 2016, said: “I think in any leadership position you always feel the responsibility when teams are not performing well.
“We haven’t performed as well as we want, across the board. It’s certainly disappointing, but (my future) isn’t really a question at the moment.
“I’m focused on what we have to do to win the next game and turn things around. Whatever happens at the end of the tournament, that will be a conversation for later.”
Knight: The referees have the right to stop the game for rain
Knight cut an angry figure as the umpires took the players off the field at Manuka Oval, seconds after she had hit Annabel Sutherland for four behind to reduce England’s requirement to 18 off the last five balls.
But she later admitted the officials had made the right call.
“It was the right decision by the umpires, 100 per cent,” added Knight, who had earlier seen Danni Wyatt-Hodge top score with 52 off 40 deliveries.
“I was really in the zone to try and win us that game, and obviously frustrated that we were going away, but it wasn’t down to the umpires at all. It was very wet. Even when we were running, it felt very slippery.
“I felt like he could get us over the line. I felt really settled and had some very good boundary options on a very good cricketing wicket.
“It was a fantastic crowd and they deserved a finish.
“We are all interested in playing for England”
England have focused on playing entertaining, attacking cricket since Jon Lewis became manager in 2022, but they have not won an Ashes series or T20 World Cup in that time.
Knight: ‘We know it’s not as simple as saying we want to have fun. We also want to win at the end of the day’
Knight added: “It’s still a mantra that’s really important to this team. We’re always at our best when we try to take the game and enjoy it. But obviously there’s more to cricket than that.
“We know it’s not as simple as saying we want to have fun. We also want to win at the end of the day.
“We haven’t done that this trip and there are a lot of players frustrated and hurt that we haven’t done that.
We all care about playing for England and representing a team that is really special.”
Women’s Ashes – results and fixtures
All UK and Ireland dates and times
