England captain Heather Knight does not believe the team have a point to prove as they start a multi-format series against South Africa just over a month after a hugely disappointing group-stage exit at the T20 World Cup.
Sunday’s opening T20 match in East London is the first of three before three one-day internationals and a Test match, which starts on December 15, giving England a quick opportunity to bounce back from the stunning loss to West Indies which sent them home from Dubai early five weeks ago.
There has been plenty of criticism since that defeat, a scrutiny Knight said reflected the growing stature of the game, but she insisted England still have belief in themselves and their approach.
“In terms of proving a point, I think that will be individual,” Knight said.
Touchdown in South Africa 🛬#SAvENG | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/MqtzPcCjtS
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“Some people will be driven by that and others will just want to keep getting better and keep doing what they do really well. I don’t think there’s a huge amount of points to be proven.
“Sometimes it’s clear there needs to be a big change and sometimes there’s not. I think in this case there doesn’t need to be huge change. I think probably the worst thing you can do is be reactionary.
“It’s going back to that really fearless cricket that we want to play, and when teams do go hard against us, which they will, making sure we’re really calm and really solution-focused.
“It’s important to remember we’ve played some brilliant cricket. We don’t become a bad side because we lost that game and played poorly in 10 overs in the World Cup.
“It’s obviously a bump in the road that’s going to keep us quite humble and keep us motivated to get better and highlight a few things we need to do a little bit better.”
South Africa reached the final of the World Cup, losing to New Zealand, and should provide a stiff test for England going into January’s Ashes.
“The Ashes is around the corner, and naturally it’s hard not to have half an eye on it with preparations,” Knight said.
“I think the best prep for us will be being successful here against a really good team.”
