Heather Knight: England batter leaves legacy to English cricket that goes far numbers on the field

The significance of Heather Knight’s legacy is one that is difficult to measure.

In a game of numbers, her impact goes far beyond that.

The former captain has seen it all in a record 320 matches, 199 of them in charge over nine exhausting yet era-defining years.

The euphoric high of that World Cup win at Lord’s in 2017, the same ground on which she is now walking away from the game, juxtaposed by the crushing low of a brutal Ashes thrashing that brought down the curtain on her captaincy.

Throughout it all, the good and the bad, she was exemplary in her professionalism.

She fronted up for difficult interviews after every defeat, never wavered in her support of her team-mates, endlessly put in hard graft after injuries threatened to end her career before she was ready.

It is quite fitting and testament to her character, that when asked for the highlight of her career, Knight mentioned her work off the field rather than anything that the fans and media saw on it.

Knight replaced the legendary Charlotte Edwards as captain in 2016, two years after England’s first central contracts were introduced, and was tasked with leading the side through the transition from amateur to professional.

She also spoke up about the huge gap in salaries between the men’s and women’s competitions in The Hundred.

Alongside her predecessor Nat Sciver-Brunt, the sense of calm and safety when Knight was in the middle is one that very few have been able to replicate.

And the Ashes humiliation should not, and does not, undo everything that she leaves behind. She has earned her farewell parade in the Lord’s sun.

From Heather Knight to English cricket, it is a goodbye. From English cricket to Knight, it is a thank you.