Skipper believes domestic players can establish claims before the T20 World Cup and the Ashes.
Heather Knight, England's captain, has urged her squad to "go out and
dominate" regional cricket this summer, expecting domestic players to mount strong cases for inclusion ahead of the T20 World Cup and
the Ashes later in the year.
The 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy begins on Saturday with a full round of
games. While many of England's centrally contracted players will miss the
first weekend to attend Tammy Beaumont's wedding, they will have opportunities
to play for their regions ahead of England's T20I series against Pakistan,
which begins on May 11.
"It's never a closed door if people are performing well," Knight
said at the ECB's national tape-ball tournament introduction. "The caliber
of those regional games has risen dramatically in recent years, therefore such
performances are worth more. "It's an exciting time, but there's also a
lot of competition within the squad."You want to see England players dominate
and truly put their names forward to keep their place in the England team.
Individuals will determine the roles they play. Most of us will miss the first
round. But I always keep an eye on what's going on and what young talent is
emerging, and watching those games this year will be no exception.
There is fierce contention for places in England's T20 squad ahead of the World
Cup in Bangladesh later this year, and Knight drew encouragement from the
recent 4-1 series victory against New Zealand. "We've got Mahika Gaur [who
missed the tour due to school commitments] and Freya Kemp coming back from
injury as well," she went on to say. "We have a fantastic depth of
guys to choose from.
"It's quite thrilling. It makes selecting much more
difficult, and sometimes you have more disgruntled players, which is perfectly
good. It's a great location to be in. Moving ahead is crucial, especially with the
next World Cup in October. Bangladesh is a difficult area to play, so that's
the goal for the summer: to get in shape for that tournament."
England were without four first-choice players for the first three T20Is in New
Zealand due to Women's Premier League commitments, allowing them to test their
depth. With the opportunity to bat in the top three, Maia Bouchier became the
tour's breakthrough star, scoring 223 runs in five innings to lead the T20I
series.
"She had a really good tour, particularly in the T20s off the back of a
really good summer last year," Knight told ESPN. "She has always had
the skill, but she is only now learning how to govern herself in the center and
turn her talent into performances. It's been quite cool to see. She's someone
you watch and wonder, 'How does she play that shot?'
"Some of the shots she's made are impressive.
Obviously, she had a fantastic tour, and now it's about building on that and
maintaining that consistency. She'll get some playing time in the team,
especially in that T20 opening role that we haven't quite nailed down, so for
her to grasp that [means] she'll get some runs. "Hopefully, she maintains
her current form."
Edgbaston has already sold over 10,000 tickets for England's first T20I match
against Pakistan, and Knight believes that the ECB's joint marketing campaign
with the men's series against the same opponents will help build on the
commercial success of last summer's Ashes series.
"It was a really awesome summer to be involved with: you felt the support and momentum for cricket around the country," she went on to say. "It's obviously different from an Ashes summer, but the number of people who came out and said, anecdotally, 'we want to come back, we want to come to watch you guys' has been quite fantastic. "Hopefully, we can put on a show."
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