Heather Knight (2007)
Heather Knight is a right-handed batter and spin bowler and has been captain of the England women’s cricket team since 2016. She led the England team that won the 2017 Women’s World Cup and was appointed OBE for her services to cricket. She was also named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2018.
Ebony played 22 ODIs and 7 iT20s for England between 2001 to 2010 and was appointed MBE in 2021 for her services to cricket and charity.
Ebony was brought up in Herne Hill, London, and was named after all her grandmothers and great-grandmothers – Ebony-Jewel Cora-Lee Camellia Rosamond Rainford-Brent. She was introduced to cricket aged nine by the charity Cricket for Change and was awarded Johnners Scholarships when she was fourteen in 1998, and again in 1999. She played for Surrey from the Under-11s through to the Surrey Women’s team, where she was the captain. In 2007 she was the University College London (UCL) Sportswoman of the Year and graduated with a Masters in Chemistry.
Since retiring from cricket, Ebony has been an expert summariser and commentator on BBC Test Match Special and Sky Sports. She has also been the cricket programmes manager for the Lord’s Taverners charity. In 2015, she was appointed the first Director of Surrey Women’s Cricket and has now launched the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) programme to encourage more black teenagers into cricket.