England captain, Heather Knight hopes for Hove support

England’s World Cup winning captain Heather Knight is hoping for a big crowd when her domestic side Western Storm attempt to defend their Kia Super League trophy at The 1st Central County Ground on Bank Holiday Monday.

Knight - who led England to glory in front of a packed-out Lord’s last summer - knows the value of a loud and supportive atmosphere and thinks it could be the difference on the day.

“Hove has a great connection to the women’s game and they’ve always supported us brilliantly down here,” she said.

“We had good numbers in earlier this summer when we beat South Africa and a repeat of last year’s crowd for Finals Day would be great.

“Of course an increase on that would be great on the day and great in terms of the game’s growth. I still remember the noise from Lord’s and how special it was and how much of a difference it made.”

A year ago it was Knight’s Western Storm side who came out victorious, beating local team Southern Vipers and with no Vipers present this year maybe Knight’s West Country team will earn the support of the home crowd, over rivals Loughborough Lightning and Surrey Stars?

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to get the Hove supporters on our side but as long as they’re there and they’re loud they’ve played their part!

Knight and her Western Storm teammates will need to play twice on the day. They face Surrey Stars in the semi-final, with the winner meeting Loughborough Lightning.

Tickets are still available at www.sussexcricket.co.uk/tickets priced at £5 for adults, £1 for under-18s and £10 for a family of four.