Heather Knight continues to be the appropriate individual to guide England regardless of a 16-0 Ashes drubbing, says World Cup winner Alex Hartley.
Knight and head coach Jon Lewis, 49, have each been underneath heavy strain all through England’s depressing Girls’s Ashes marketing campaign, which ended with an innings defeat within the one-off Check.
Australia gained each match of the multi-format sequence – the primary time that has been achieved – as England have been fully outplayed in all areas.
There may be mounting strain on England’s management, notably head coach Lewis, because the Ashes humiliation follows a disappointing T20 World Cup marketing campaign the place they exited on the group stage, however Hartley reaffirmed her assist of Knight.
“I do not know what the long run holds for Jon Lewis however one thing has to alter – whether or not that’s captain, coach, management, administration,” Hartley mentioned on the BBC Check Match Particular podcast.
“However I genuinely consider Heather Knight is able to taking this staff ahead.
“Heather will go dwelling and replicate if her being captain is true for this staff, however you’ll be able to’t make these selections if you’ve stepped off the sphere after a Check match and you have misplaced a sequence 16-0.
“There will likely be an enormous a part of her which says she does not wish to do that any extra however she might need a few weeks at dwelling and weigh up whether or not she is the appropriate individual.”
Knight, 34, has been England captain since 2017 and has led them out 199 instances in all codecs.
The messaging from each Knight and Lewis, notably initially of the sequence, has come underneath scrutiny in Australia because the captain repeatedly informed the media that England have been “fairly shut” to beating their opponents. Lewis’ feedback relating to Australia’s local weather advantages have been additionally derided.
The humiliation in Australia is more likely to see a assessment into the state of England’s aspect and Hartley, who performed for the staff from 2016 to 2019, added that trustworthy reflection is the one solution to put issues proper.
“You possibly can’t get booted out of World Cups earlier than the semi-final and lose the Ashes 16-0,” she mentioned.
“If it was males’s cricket, you’d have to speak about change, so if it is ladies’s cricket, it’s important to do the identical.
“This tour might need been a wake-up name for England, seeing the variations between the 2 sides, however all the bigwigs on the ECB have to get collectively and actually replicate the place this staff is at.”