Knott reveals mindset shift as she sets new benchmark for Fire

Charli Knott says she feels her breakout Women’s National Cricket League season has been "a long time coming" as she sets her sights on winning a second title with Queensland.

The 22-year-old allrounder is poised to play a major role in Sunday’s decider in Brisbane, where the Fire will host a rising New South Wales squad.

Having finished runners-up to Tasmania in 2023-24, combined with back-to-back WBBL final defeats for those who also play for Brisbane Heat, Knott said Queensland were hungrier than ever to lift the Ruth Preddey Cup.

"Everyone's pretty pumped about that, being in the final for the second year running – now we're pretty keen to get a win on the board," Knott told cricket.com.au this week.

"It was a little bit of a nervous wait (to find out who Queensland will play).

"Definitely keen to play New South Wales, I don't think anyone was really too fazed on who we were going to play, at the end of the day we've got to play our best cricket."

Knott finished the regular season fourth on the runs table with 542 at 54.2 batting at No.3, including her first WNCL century – a match-winning 110 against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval – alongside knocks of 87no, 79no, 62 and 58.

No Queensland player has scored more runs in a single WNCL season, and she is just the second Fire player after Georgia Redmayne to pass the 500-run mark.

The off-spinner backed up her batting form with 12 wickets at 28.66, completing her strongest all-round season in the domestic one-day tournament yet, as she bettered the 328 runs and 12 wickets she took in 2023-24.

Knott has put her improvement down not only to tweaks in the nets, but the way she has developed her mindset going into matches.

"It feels, personally, a bit of a long time coming to the score the runs that I have," Knott said.

"I'm definitely pretty happy, and it's nice to see some of the work pay off ... in cricket, it's a tough game in terms of putting a lot of work in, and then you might not make many runs or take many wickets, so it's definitely a nice feeling for some of that work to have paid off.

"It's a mindset and how I'm going into the games.

"There's obviously always little technical intricacies that I'm trying to develop, but it was more so getting my routines down pat to make sure that my head was in the right space before each game - which is just being as simple as possible and really having a clear mind, so that I can just allow my instincts to take over, (the things) that we do practice so hard on in in training.

"That being said, I've obviously trained very hard with all the technical stuff, but it was really allowing that to take over in a game without having to think about it too much."

Having already represented both Australia A and the Governor-General’s XI, Knott could get another chance to push her case for higher honours across March, when a three-day ‘Green v Gold’ red-ball game is staged ahead of a multi-format Australia A series against England A.

"That's definitely a goal to be selected on both of those and if I did, it would be a great opportunity to keep playing plenty more cricket," she said.

"It's another month at the end of WNCL of plenty of games, so I’m hopeful that I'll get selected in that and hopefully be successful if I do.

"No doubt the England set-up will be competitive, so I'm sure it'll be a very good series, and very competitive."

Knott is poised for another busy winter, as well – she is headed back to Southampton in 2025, signing with Hampshire in the ECB’s new women’s county white-ball competitions that have replaced the previous regional format.

She spent last the Australian winter playing with Southampton-based Southern Vipers in the former English regional domestic system, dominating across her nine-match stint in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy where she hit 346 runs at 49.42 and collected 16 wickets.

"I really enjoyed it last year, a great bunch of girls and a talented bunch of girls as well," Knott said.

"It's a great environment that just allowed me to play more games of cricket, a little bit less emphasis on training, and more so just how to get the best out of myself in game time.

"Which is what it's all about going back over there, just to play another 16 games of cricket, which is definitely the best form of practice out in the middle.

"It's a great opportunity for myself and just in different conditions, different coaching staff, completely different environment that can help further my game."

WNCL 2024-25  

Final: Queensland v New South Wales | Allan Border Field | Sunday, March 2 at 2.35pm AEDT (1.35pm AED)

Stream live and free via the CA Live app and cricket.com.au or watch via Kayo Sports