Heather Knight: "Whenever I play for Storm, it feels like I’ve come home"

England Captain, Heather Knight is set to feature for Western Storm in this year’s Charlotte Edwards Cup, which gets underway this week.

Here, she reflects on the summer so far and looks ahead to what promises to be a big summer for the game.

It’s going to be an incredible summer of cricket.

The icing on the cake is obviously the men’s and women’s Ashes series, but there is so much more happening at all levels of the game and that is so good to see.

It’s nice that the sun is finally out after so much frustration was caused by the rain. A tremendous amount of effort and planning goes into arranging fixtures, so to have so many games rained off over the last month is genuinely heart breaking. Credit has to go to groundstaff at this time of year. To have games being played given how bad the weather has been is a testament to the incredible work that these unsung heroes do.

The weather essentially decimated the women’s county T20 programme, but it was great to see Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Wales finally get some game time last weekend. To have T20 Finals Day at the Cooper Associates County Ground was great to see and it will be an experience that none of the players will ever forget.

Although Devon didn’t go all the way, it was incredibly exciting for the women’s game to see Somerset lift the trophy under lights. Hopefully, this will have brought a good deal of attention to the women’s county game, and I am sure that this will continue to grow. It’s also exciting that the women’s county teams will get the opportunity to play 50-over cricket later this summer too. It’s a format that some of the players won’t have experienced before and it will be something that will help them develop their game and improve them as players, and hopefully push them towards further recognition.

Attention now turns to the Charlotte Edwards Cup.

It’s great to be back with Storm. I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate because I have been able to play cricket all over the world, but there is something special about coming home and representing the region that is so close to my heart. Whenever I play for Storm, it feels like I’ve come home.

It’s been a mixed start for us so far and whilst I haven’t been able to be involved, I’ve been keeping a very close eye on the girls and how they’ve been getting on. Losing Luffy to a broken thumb was a massive blow because she epitomises everything that Storm is about, but I’ve been really impressed by how Dani Gibson has stepped up to take on the captaincy. It’s a new and unexpected role for her, but by all accounts, she has been outstanding.

It’s a young squad and that is bound to result in some inconsistent performances, but one thing that is for sure is that there is a lot of talent in that dressing room. At the moment it might be a bit raw, but the lack of fear that some of these girls have is so refreshing and exciting to see.

Although the squad is young in terms of age, there is a huge amount of experience within the group and there’s a really good feel around the camp. We might not be the finished article yet, but the future is looking very bright for Western Storm.

The highlight for many this summer will be the Ashes. It is such an honour to be able to captain my country against Australia on home soil. We are under no illusion of how difficult the task in front of us is, but we will be doing absolutely everything to ensure that we win the series and regain that precious trophy. To be facing the old enemy at Bristol and Taunton will make it even more special.

The Charlotte Edwards Cup will give our players the chance to show what they can do on a big stage, and it could even give them the opportunity to push for a place on the biggest stage of all. We’ve seen some of the Storm players demonstrate that they can compete with the best throughout The Hundred over the last couple of years, and nothing would make me prouder than to see some of these girls pushing for international honours.

Whatever happens, it will be a summer to enjoy at all levels of the game, from grass roots to the Ashes series. What would make it perfect would be some silverware for England and Western Storm.