Heather Knight aiming for World Cup as she recovers from hamstring injury
The 34-year-old's summer was ruined by a significant hamstring tendon issue suffered during last month's T20 clean sweep against the West Indies.
Unable to feature in the upcoming series against India, she has instead booked a holiday to Switzerland and plans to watch Sarina Wiegman's England launch their European Championship title defence with Group D fixtures against France and the Netherlands in Zurich on July 5 and 9.
This year's ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in India is scheduled to begin on September 30, with England's opening match coming against South Africa on October 3.
'That World Cup is what I'm aiming for, it's what I've got my sights set on,' Knight told the PA news agency
'There's always bumps in the road with rehab but hopefully everything goes smoothly and I can be back early September and get a bit of cricket in before the World Cup.
'Things are tracking pretty well to hopefully be fit for that. It's healing well.
'We're not gonna rush things. It's a pretty gnarly injury: I ripped off the tendon quite well from the bone, so I have to be a little bit careful coming back.'
Knight, who sat out three subsequent ODIs against the Windies and is also missing London Spirit's title defence in this season's Hundred, was on crutches for two weeks but avoided surgery.
She is determined to make the most of her enforced absence amid the 'extremely dull' rehabilitation process.
'I'm going to Switzerland next week to watch the Lionesses play, so that's something I wouldn't have been able to do if I was playing cricket,' said Knight.
'I always love watching women's sport and it's the opportunity to go to a pretty cool country.
'I know a few of the players loosely: I've done a few bits with Leah (Williamson, England captain) and come across a few of the girls at events.
'It's really cool to see what they've done for women's sport in this country.
'Hopefully they can be successful because that Euros win in the UK (in 2022) was a really special moment for women's sport in this country and changed the face of football.'
It has been difficult few months for Knight.
She was stripped of the England captaincy following nine years in the role in the wake of an Ashes humiliation in Australia before sustaining the long-term injury in the early weeks of the new era under head coach Charlotte Edwards.
'The Ashes was pretty tough; I was sad that things had ended like that but the ECB decided they wanted me to have a fresh start and that was their decision and completely fine,' she said of the captaincy, which passed to Nat Sciver-Brunt.
Great to have two of the driving forces behind the Knight Stokes Cup at Lord's today! pic.twitter.com/r6CLb9BqMe
— Lord's Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket) June 26, 2025
'I'm still very motivated to keep playing for England.'
Alongside England men's captain Ben Stokes, Knight has given her name to a new national state school competition, which will launch in 2026 and conclude with finals at Lord's.
The Barclays Knight-Stokes Cup – named after two of England's greatest state-educated cricketers and the brainchild of another ex-England skipper, Michael Vaughan – aims to drive state school participation in the sport.
'It's really important that we keep making cricket accessible,' said Knight. 'I'm really proud to put my name to it.'
:: Schools can sign up for the inaugural Knight-Stokes Cup at lords.org/knightstokescup
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One huge step forward, two back, because in 2003 the FAW pulled the team out of qualifiers for the next Euros, citing the cost of travelling to Belarus, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Israel as too exorbitant. Unprecedented sums of money were being thrown at Mark Hughes' booming Euro 2004 chasers at the time and cutbacks needed to be made. The women were culled. An easy target. They weren't exactly dancing jigs of joy about it. Nor were UEFA, who fined Wales £20,000 for the sudden withdrawal. Thanks to the efforts of first Ford, then Mooney, things have altered in pace dramatically in the subsequent years, albeit until recent times the FAW's ruling 28-person council was still entirely made up of older men, often in their sixties, seventies, eighties and sometimes even nineties. By 2027 that will change to 40 percent gender parity, Mooney explaining: 'We've got loads of young females brimming with new ideas about how to take our game forward in Wales.' The ongoing drive for women's football will be a fundamental part of that sea change. On the back of qualifying for the Euros, an Environments For Her Fund has been set up inviting grassroots clubs to apply for a portion of £1m grant monies to upgrade facilities. 'Any club wishing to retrofit can apply for £50,000. Remember, lots of these clubhouses were built in the 1970s, '80s, '90s for male football. No toilet facilities or changing rooms for women,' says Mooney. FAW chief Noel Mooney To that end, and despite Wilkinson's aces starring on the world stage in the coming days, Mooney is treating the women's game as something of a start-up enterprise when it comes to funding. It is hardly without expense. The FAW try to give their female teams, Wilkinson's senior side and at age-grade levels, exactly the same as their male counterparts when it comes to charter flights, luxury hotels, training facilities, number of coaches, analysts, medics and sports science back-up. The interest levels are nowhere near the same yet, the women don't bring in anything remotely resembling the revenue streams superstars like Bale, Ryan Giggs, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Bellamy himself managed to do down the decades, mirrored more recently by Harry Wilson, Brennan Johnson, Neco Williams and Co. But Mooney cites a business saying he is fond of. 'Risk tolerance. How much risk are you prepared to take in order to get the rewards,' he states. 'The men's team is obviously the cash cow, they bring in the large majority of our revenue through TV rights, gate receipts and so on. 'With the women we are investing in a product, something we need to do for a number of years before we see the returns in terms of profits. 'But we believe it is going to generate a LOT of money for Welsh football in the future. It opens up new revenue opportunities for us. Our commercial partners want to talk about the women's game. Modern, progressive companies are keen to be investing in this. 'The Welsh Government are more connected to us and have helped with funding to put into the legacy we wish to create. We're looking to drive things, bring female leadership, reach out to communities where they wouldn't necessarily see football as their sport. 'We also find our women are interested in social matters, equality, diversity, inclusion. How we treat the world, environmental issues, fairness. They come to us wanting to do a day's coaching to help push the growing interest. Recently 200 girls aged six to 14 jumped at the chance to play football with them at a training session. We maxed out the numbers in an instant, could have done it ten times over. The buzz is becoming phenomenal. 'If truth be known we might struggle to keep up with the demand of growing numbers who want to play. But clubs helping as start-ups for the women's game will be rewarded with more support and funding. 'It's not just a male game any more. We will not stop until it's 50-50 - same facilities, same playing conditions, same numbers is the aim with our clubs. 'Yes it's costly, but it's a worthwhile investment and reaching the Euros, with everything it can bring for us, is part of that. 'We get £1.8m from UEFA for qualifying. The players receive 35 percent, most of the rest goes on logistics to ensure they get the same backing as Craig's side would expect. They need to feel wanted. As such we anticipate actually losing £300,000 from the tournament, but the FAW Board are aware it's about far more than that. 'The legacy we can create, the interest we can generate, is the big thing here. We would spend five times that figure, knowing what the future spin-offs can be. 'For me personally, this perhaps means even more than us getting to the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. We're bringing a modern Cymru to the world and it's incredibly satisfying, knowing everything we've had to deal with and put into this to get to this stage. 'We've taken the hits together, including the sudden departure of our previous manager Gemma Grainger at the start of last year. That was a challenge, but I'm really happy we reacted the way we did. Rhian brings fresh ideas. She's brilliant, just like Craig is. 'Our players have had struggles to get there for lots of reasons. Some went to schools where they weren't permitted to play football. Others come from villages and towns where it wasn't the done thing. 'Yet through everything the FAW staff have invested in them, we've shared a belief, we've done it together as Team Wales… and the reward comes from qualifying and beyond. Suddenly the girls not permitted to play have developed into stars. 'If the women can get to their World Cup in Brazil in 2027 that will complete the set for us. The men have done the Euros and the World Cup, the women can do it too. 'Having that profile helps us keep supporting the grassroots game to grow, making sure we've got the things in place to ensure this growth that we see doesn't plateau. It will continue to surge. The legacy of these Euros can be enormous.' Wales kick off against the Netherlands in Lucerne next Saturday, before meeting France on July 9th and reigning Euro champions England four days after. It's a daunting sequence of matches, but given the glamour opposition, tournaments being bigger these days and games being beamed on BBC or ITV, Wilkinson and Mooney see this as a huge opportunity to reach a vast number of eyes. Wilkinson named her Euros squad on the summit of Snowdon, the highest point in Wales, pointing out: 'The mountain was used as a theme because qualifying was always going to be an uphill battle, with setbacks. 'But this is a special team. They're strong and don't quit on each other. I've never been prouder. My arrival maybe came just at the right time to ask these players to do things that in the past they weren't ready for. We will surprise people, these names should be known.' Mooney beams excitedly: 'We have the potential to come together to celebrate, to challenge negative gender stereotypes and to boost participation in football at every level. Article continues below 'We want everyone across Wales to be able to feel a part of this extraordinary moment, no matter where they are. We want to bring Wales to the world through football. This is a really special time for the women's game here.' Historically rugby has been viewed as the number one sport in Wales and clearly interest levels for Six Nations and autumn Tests tend to be through the roof, notwithstanding the current mess the Welsh game finds itself in. But, in terms of participation numbers anyway, that No.1 argument has already been won by football - and it is about to be completely blown out of the water. Where Welsh rugby struggles, Mooney feels Welsh football is about to explode further.
