England ready to deal with WPL fall-out
Heather Knight expects Monday’s inaugural Women’s Premier League auction to turn heads during the T20 World Cup.
After starting their World Cup campaign against the West Indies at Paarl today, England take on Ireland on Monday in a clash that might be overshadowed by another landmark moment for women’s cricket.
Every member of England’s 15-strong squad will go under the hammer in Mumbai, and while there are only 30 overseas slots open to the 163 non-Indian applicants, those selected may get career-high pay days.
Knight, who has entered at a base price of £40,000, admits there is no use ignoring the topic, but is confident England will keep their minds focused on the task at hand in South Africa in the coming days.
“It would be naive to think it isn’t a slight distraction,” Knight said. “We had a chat about it (on Friday morning) and talking about it is a really healthy thing, it doesn’t need to be an elephant in the room.
“How we manage it as individuals is very important. We’re going to be really open, try and talk about it and just see it as a bonus and know that each individual player’s worth in the England team will not change depending on what happens.
“It’s something we’re having to get used to as cricketers as the landscape changes a lot and more drafts and more options come into the game.”
Some of England’s players may know whether they have been bought by one of the five teams before the match against Ireland and Knight does not intend to stand in their way of finding out.
“There might be a chance there’s some stuff beforehand and it’s just going to be up to individuals to decide whether they want to know or not,” she added.
Knight has had six stitches in her lip, the result of a fielding mishap in this week’s warm-up against South Africa, but confirmed she and Alice Capsey, who has recently returned to action after a dislocated shoulder, will be available to face the Windies.