“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Knight said. “Obviously she collapsed in the first ODI and it’s rare to see Kate in that much pain, so we’ll have to see how it reacts. She tried a small bowl today, tried to eat a couple. We will try to enter your order and then make a decision based on what we think is best for your team.
“Obviously we have a huge amount of cricket lined up so this will be at the forefront (of our thoughts). Kate is a very important player for us in one-day cricket and Test cricket. We believe the biggest opportunity for her is for her to play in Test cricket.” Because we desperately want to play cricket, but we think seam bowlers are going to be very important over the next months, so we really want to look after them.
“So “I don’t know” is the honest answer, but if she doesn’t play we will definitely miss her.”
The upcoming Test will be South Africa’s first Test on home soil in 22 years, and Knight, who still considers the format his favorite despite the lack of opportunities, said the players were all “looking forward to getting the whites back in”. “He said he was excited about the prospects.” . But shifting the mindset from white-ball to red-ball cricket will be the biggest factor over the next four days.
“From my experience, I really enjoy playing red-ball cricket,” Knight said. “It’s really a test, it’s a challenge, it’s something I love to do. The mental challenge, the repetition of skills, adapting to the different situations you might face. I really enjoy it.
“But honestly, preparing for the Test, everyone was thinking, ‘Okay, what do I do? How do I learn? How do I develop?’ It’s quite difficult to select a team. It’s quite difficult to play in white-ball cricket or maybe a Test a year ago. This is because it only has minimal information, such as the game.
“So it’s quite a challenge to prepare. It’s about being clear mentally on how you’re going to play. I don’t think that’s much different from your mindset for the day. You just have to do it a little longer.” You can manage changing situations in the game a little better.
“You have to be okay with not scoring sometimes and having to absorb a little more pressure, but I also want the girls to have that mindset when they get the chance to put pressure on the opposition. Do we keep the game going at a pace of knots? ?”
The two teams last faced each other in a Test match at Taunton in 2022. Here, Marizanne Kapp scored a brilliant 150 to set her team up for a hard-fought draw.
“She’s definitely classy and a key player,” Knight said. “We have plans to try to get her out there. Laura (Wolvaardt) has the potential to hit long balls and score big runs as well, so she’s another key player. We have real clarity on what we need to do. “Then it’s also important to adapt to the way they play the game.”
Despite the proximity of the Ashes, which will host the first Test at the expansive MCG, Knight insisted England’s focus is all on the “here and now”.
“We’re totally focused on this Test match, it’s already been on the calendar and it just highlights that the girls really want to play and do really well. “The opportunity to play a Test match is fantastic.
“We’ve been through this series with one eye on the Ashes, trying to prepare for that while also not looking too far ahead and doing what we need to do to be successful. And obviously we’ve had great success on this tour. A really successful tour. “We learned a lot and there are things we can fine-tune before we go into the Ashes.”
Andrew Miller is ESPNcricinfo’s UK editor. @Miller_Cricket
