England all-rounder and captain Heather Knight has withdrawn from the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024, according to a statement from the franchise. Knight will be replaced by South African all-rounder Nadine De Klerk as Knight’s replacement.
Knight is the second English cricketer to withdraw from the tournament following Lauren Bell. Bell opted out of the tournament with the UP Warriorz in order to concentrate on England’s series against New Zealand, which is set to take place at the end of the current WPL season.
The WPL will run from February 23rd to March 17th, while the five match T20I between New Zealand and England will start on 19th in Dunedin.
As a result, the players who will play in the final would have to miss the first match of the series. According to a report by ESPNcricinfo, the ECB gave the players an ultimatum to select one or the other and said that choosing the WPL meant they would not be selected for the New Zealand bilateral series.
As captain, Knight was always likely to opt for international duty over the T20 tournament. Bell, on the other hand, said in a post on Instagram that her focus was on getting ready for the series. On Friday, Warriorz announced the addition of Sri Lankan ace Chamari Athapaththu.
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