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KNIGHT EXCITED FOR WEST-COUNTRY HOMECOMING

27 July 2017

World Cup-winning skipper Heather Knight is preparing for a west country homecoming as she bids to add the T20 Kia Super League to the much-acclaimed global success she achieved at Lord’s last weekend.

Plymouth-born Knight leads Western Storm in the second edition of the six-team Kia Super League which kicks off on 10 August culminating with finals day on 1 September at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.

The Storm lost in the final of last year’s inaugural competition to Southern Vipers, who were led by England legend Charlotte Edwards, Knight’s predecessor as national team captain.

Knight, 26, admitted that her feet have barely touched the ground since England’s nail-biting, ground-breaking win over India in the Women’s World Cup final in front more than 20,000 spectators at Lord’s.

She said: “It will take a while to sink in and to appreciate what an achievement it was and how many people we reached.

“I was in Manchester yesterday filming Question of Sport, which I watched as a kid. I was stopped by people at Euston Station coming up to congratulate me and then I was being asked by Sue Barker whether I wanted a home or away question – I had to pinch myself.

“I’m really excited to get back to the west country and join up with the Western Storm – the storm troopers.

“We had a really good tournament last year, finishing with that loss in the final to Southern Vipers and we’d love to go one better in what will hopefully will an even bigger and better tournament.

“We were a bit inconsistent with the ball last year but we’ve got some really good young players. Freya Davies has improved massively from her experiences last year and I’m expecting a big year from her.

“She’s a really good new-ball bowler with a lot of good skills, including a very good slower ball.

“We’ve also picked up New Zealand’s Holly Huddleston as a bowling option – we were a bit batting heavy last year and she adds an extra dimension to our attack.”

They will both complement World Cup match-winner Anya Shrubsole, whose six for 46 in the final secured England their dramatic nine-run victory.

Also in the squad are England’s Fran Wilson, West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor and Rachel Priest from New Zealand.

Knight added: “Hopefully people will enjoy the chance to watch more good women’s cricket and we’d love to see the sort of crowds we got during the World Cup and lots of young girls as well.

“The amount of young girls that were there on Sunday and the stories of girls wanting to play have been amazing – Paul Collingwood’s tweet about his little girls being inspired to play cricket was brilliant.

“It’ll be really nice to play at Bristol and Taunton again – they were big parts of my development as a kid – and we had such good support their during the World Cup as well.”

To buy tickets for Western Storm v Lancashire Thunder at the Brightside Ground, Bristol on Saturday August 26th please click here.

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