As a women's team, we're not massively diverse: Heather Knight

Heather Knight, England captain, said she believes cricket needs to encourage the involvement of people from more diverse backgrounds to take the game forward.



"It's a conversation we need to have as a team," Knight told Sky Sports News. "It's massively important; I have been following the news and what is going on. As a women's team, we're not massively diverse, which needs to change. The ECB are aware of that.”



"Cricket knows it needs to attract more females, more diverse groups of people and that links in with the Black Lives Matter movement.”



In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, former England cricketers like Ebony Rainford-Brent, Michael Carberry, Devon Malcolm and Mark Butcher talked about the issue of racism in cricket.



ALSO READ: Ebony Rainford-Brent wants more diversity in women's cricket



Rainford-Brent, the first black woman to play for England, rued the lack of diversity in cricket and called for action plans to improve participation of females from diverse backgrounds.



"Ebony Rainford-Brent has spoken really well about what they're doing at Surrey and I'd love to see that spread out across the country. There's obviously a lot of work to do but the ECB know that's an issue that needs to be addressed,” Knight added.



Meanwhile, Knight, who led England to World Cup glory in 2017, and her England team mates returned to training last week. "To get back this week has been amazing. I've absolutely loved it. When we first found out, it was a bit of a relief, something to focus on,” she said.



There have been talks about the possibility of international cricket resuming with a tri-series between England, India and South Africa in September.



ALSO READ: One player, one coach - England resume training



"The ECB have done a great job to get us back into training and to be part of those conversations around playing international cricket later in the summer. Obviously, there's only a certain number of grounds that can be venues for these bio-secure events, so that limits the amount of cricket that can be played at the same time. The priority was to get the men back and, financially, that was the right decision for the ECB.”



Knight, who has played 182 internationals for England across formats, also congratulated Clare Connor on becoming the first female president of the MCC. "I'm really chuffed for Clare. I'm really proud of what she's doing and what she has achieved. It's another of those things she can put on her long list on her CV."



"To be the first female is amazing. Women were only allowed in the long room around 20 years ago.”



"It's great that has been addressed; just having more female voices in general in cricket is so important, on boards and in the conversations that go on behind the scenes. That's going to help push the women's game forward and keep it moving in the right direction."