Heather Knight opens up on her cricket career amidst London Spirit’s new managerial role

Heather Knight [Source: @cricketworldcup/x]

Heather Knight is not considering retirement yet, as confirmed by the former England Women’s captain herself despite landing a new managerial role with the London Spirit franchise. Earlier, the 35-year-old was appointed as the new Women’s General Manager of London Spirit ahead of the upcoming The Hundred 2026 season.

While speaking at Lord’s, Heather Knight stated that her new managerial role should not be taken as a sign that she is about to draw curtains on her competitive cricket. Instead, the legendary English cricketer sees the role as a chance to begin transition on her post-playing career.

Heather Knight retrospect injuries, says retirement not on agenda

While speaking at Lord’s on the day of the unveiling of the rebranded London Spirit logo, Heather Knight recalled her injurious past. It is worth noting that the cricketer was forced to miss the entirety of The Hundred 2025 season last year as a player due to a hamstring tear, prompting her to take up mentorship role for the London Spirit.

Reflecting her recent experiences, she said, “I was injured a lot last year, and that gave me a little bit of time to think. As you do get a little bit further in your career, you know that it's not going to last forever. I've loved my time playing in the Hundred, and being involved with the franchise as a player and as a coach, and it just felt like the right opportunity for me at this time of my career.”

Heather Knight also confirmed that taking a retirement from competitive cricket is not on her agenda, and playing for the England team is still her number one priority.

The former England captain stated, “It's not a sign that I'm going to hang up the boots. Part of the negotiation around me taking this job was that playing for England comes first, and I still have a lot of ambitions in terms of the playing side of things. The last couple of years has probably taught me that looking too far ahead is actually quite detrimental in terms of your playing career. I really want to enjoy what I'm doing and stay in the moment.”

Heather Knight sees silver lining in new role

Heather Knight is aiming to make the most of her new role as London Spirit general manager as means of transitioning into her post-playing career.

She said, “You obviously have a huge amount of your life being a professional cricketer, and that's very much linked to your identity as well, because you spend more time with your team-mates than you do your family. I obviously know a lot of people that have transitioned out of playing, and it's not the easiest thing to do, so part of me doing this is being quite proactive in terms of what comes next, and managing that career transition when eventually it does come.”

London Spirit enhanced with new signings

Heather Knight’s London Spirit recently made a slew of signings in both men and women’s teams for the upcoming The Hundred 2026 season.

The franchise is set to bolstered by the arrival of Mahika Gaur and legendary South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, who will be joining London Spirit zealots Charlie Dean and Grace Harris in the women’s team.

While Jamie Overton was retained in the men’s division, he will be joined by Birmingham Phoenix legend Liam Livingstone, Australian spinner Adam Zampa and young South African batter Dewald Brevis.