Heather Knight: Players talking about WPL auction "is a really healthy thing"

England have sat down as a squad to discuss the Women's Premier League auction, which takes place on February 13, which is the same day as their second T20 World Cup group game against Ireland

Players would be "naïve" if they weren't on some level thinking about the Women's Premier League auction in its build-up, Heather Knight has admitted.

Her England side face Ireland in their second T20 World Cup fixture on February 13, the same day as the auction.

But rather than batting away the clash between an important game and an event that could result in a life-changing deal and the opportunity to take part in the inaugural tournament, England have sat down as a squad and discussed it.

"I think it'd be naive to think it isn't a slight distraction," said Knight. "I think obviously it's on everyone's minds. Talking about it, I think is a really healthy thing. It doesn't need to be an elephant in the room. I think it's a really positive thing for the game. And it's something we'd have to start getting used to as female cricketers. Obviously, The Hundred draft is coming up as well. And it's coming into the game more and more."

It was revealed on Friday that new England Women's head coach Jon Lewis has been appointed as head coach of the Lucknow franchise – one of three English coaches at the helm across five teams, two of whom have also coached in English cricket's regional structure. Charlotte Edwards will lead Mumbai Indians, while Jon Batty is set to coach Delhi Capitals.

^{Heather Knight is one of 27 English players set to be auctioned on February 13 (Sanka Vidanagama/AFP via Getty Images)}

Lewis, meanwhile, is at the start of his journey in women's cricket but has spent years around the men's game and has come to understand how best for players to approach the nerves of auction day.

"My expectation is that some of them will get picked up for loads of money," said Lewis, speaking to The Cricketer last month. "But it isn't always the people that you think it is, and that's the bit I try to explain to them through my experiences of the men's game.

"You have to view that auction as something that is someone in India who knows probably a little bit about you from what you're like on the field but nothing about you from what you're like off the field is making a decision on what they think they want from their team.

"That can be so different from what I think. So, anything you get is a bonus. The people who I feel have been derailed the most by it in the men's game are the people who expect to get high but get low, and then it's like: 'Well, I've got to go and play the IPL.' But if you set your expectations low and get high, you still go with an element of excitement and developing yourself."

^{Jon Lewis will coach Lucknow in the WPL (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

With that in mind, Knight, who wrote her dissertation on how the franchise circuit will affect the women's game, isn't sure yet of whether she will tune in to watch her name go under the hammer. She has left the option open to the rest of the squad – "and respecting teammates and what they want to do" – but on the proviso that focus will turn to Ireland when England arrive at Boland Park to warm up.

She echoes Lewis' thoughts on the importance of "just seeing it as a bonus".

"I think knowing that each individual player's worth to the England team will not change dependent on what happens, and being prepared that some strange things might happen," she added.

"I think you look at the first couple of years of the men's IPL and a few strange things happened. So, I think staying really tight as a group and seeing it as a bonus is a really important thing. But I think it's something we're having to get used to as cricketers as the landscape changes a lot and things – more drafts and more options come into the game."

Related Topics

• England head coach Jon Lewis set for Lucknow WPL job