The Women’s Sports Alliance recently supported the Canterbury x Sports Aid athletes with a media day. The day acted as one of the first media training opportunities of the athletes’ career. The Women’s Sports Alliance designed the story boards, formed the creative direction, undertook the interviews and produced the films. All whist walking the athletes through the best practices and some hints and tricks for thriving in front of camera. As part of that session, Cricketer Rhiannon Knowling-Davies discussed her journey so far and revealed future aspirations to our WSA founder, Jordan Guard.

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Women’s cricket is evolving at a rate never before witnessed in the history of the sport, which for those unaware actually dates back all the way to 1745, according to records.

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Whether it be Test, one-day internationals, the Hundred, T20 action or even now the Commonwealth Games, there have never been so many opportunities to play or engage with women’s cricket.

 

As England captain Heather Knight recently told the Women’s Sports Alliance (WSA), the transformation she has witnessed, particularly over the last decade, is “remarkable.”

 

She grew up playing in boys and men’s teams, but grassroots development has greatly improved and Rhiannon Knowling-Davies is among a new generation of emerging talent keen to push the game to even greater heights.

 

Playing in mixed teams has been part of the 17-year-old bowler’s development and insists “there isn’t a better feeling than getting a grown man out!”

 

One of her coaches recently stated the “sky is the limit” in terms of her potential and the 17-year-old bowler, recently ‘rubbed shoulders’ with England internationals after being called up for a friendly by Trent Rockets.

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Q – You began cricket when you were six, so you’ve had just over 10 years of playing the sport, so what are the biggest things you’ve learned and how would you describe yourself as a cricketer now?

 

“I’d describe myself as hard-working, committed, take a lot of responsibility for what I’m doing, especially at (Loughborough) Lightning I’ve been doing a few captaincy roles, yeah.

 

“Responsibility has been key and I’ve shown that through a few captaincy roles, especially at Lightning and it’s really important to how I’ve developed.

 

“If you take responsibility and work hard then you can improve, but I’d probably say being committed is also very important when playing professional sport, as is courage.

 

“It can be quite daunting playing at a high level and not letting the nerves take over, so just believing in yourself and having that self-confidence is vital.”

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Q – We know you’re rather useful with the bat as well, but from a bowling perspective, what do you love about it and what’s going through your mind as you approach the wicket?

 

“Yeah I’m more of a bowler and before an over I’m thinking about where the batter thinks I will bowl it; what their plan might be, what field I’m going to have in response.

 

“Then when I’m running in, I guess it just feels natural, I’m not thinking about technique and I’m backing my strengths.

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Q – Who are your idols in the sport and who inspires you to be the best you can be?

 

“I’m aspiring to be probably someone that a lot of younger girls would look up to and for me I find in the Hundred there a lot of younger (England) players like Alex Capsey, Freya Kemp who are my age and they’re inspiring so many people already. I’d like to do that.

 

“My inspiration would probably be Tash Farrant though. I know she’s been in and out of the England setup, but last year she came back really strong had a great season.

 

“She got herself back in England and I think that showed a lot of fight from her that if you work hard, good things will come.”

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Q – What would you say has been your biggest or proudest moment in the sport so far?

 

“There have been a few, but probably, last month when I got asked to play in the Trent Rockets friendly, I wasn’t expecting that at all!

 

“It was a great experience playing with all the overseas England players and learning a lot about team tactics and how they go about the game, especially in terms of preparations.

 

“Being in that team environment was just very exciting and it kind of made me feel like I was dreaming to be honest!

 

“I didn’t expect to get asked, never mind to get asked to play in the second game or get on the pitch and field, so that was amazing yeah and something I’ll never forget.”

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Q – Looking back at your development since childhood. How important do you feel physical education in schools is, as well as specific youth programmes outside of it?

 

“School sport is important especially from a young age, because it gets you active, running around and releases endorphins.

 

“I think when you’re younger it can be hard to sit still, especially for me, it’s quite nice knowing you have PE where you can run around and it’s something to look forward to.

 

“I started playing (cricket) through primary school so I think if there’s a bigger range of sports going through primary schools then more of the minority sports can get more participants. We see a lot of opportunities to play football, cricket, tennis, so giving young kids variety and letting them try new sports will definitely boost participation.”

 

Knowling-Davies has been nominated by the English Cricket Board for SportsAid’s ‘Team England Futures programme’ which is supported by Sport England and aims assist with the development of talented young athletes.