England captain Heather Knight signs up as NHS volunteer

Knight and international teammate Sophia Dunkley are among more than 500,000 people who have already signed up to the initiative

England captain Heather Knight and allrounder Sophia Dunkley have signed up to the NHS Volunteer Scheme to bolster the efforts of the health service in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Calls have been put out for volunteer responders to assist medical staff with tasks, including delivering medicines from pharmacies, driving patients to appointments and taking them home from hospital, as well as phoning people who are isolating at home to check on their wellbeing.

The England pair are among more than 500,000 people who have already signed up to the initiative.

“We’ve got quite a lot of free time at the moment and apart from trying our best to stay fit there isn’t masses to do,” said Knight, whose brother – and his partner – are both doctors.

“I think it’s really important that we try and help as much as we can. I’ve signed up to the government’s NHS Volunteer Scheme to do my bit.

^{Sophia Dunkley has played 10 T20Is for England}

“I’ve made myself available to talk to people who are home alone, lonely and self-isolating and I’ve also offered to transport medicines.

“As well as my brother, I’ve got some friends who work in the NHS and we saw on Thursday with the clap at 8pm how much they mean to everyone, we should all support as much as possible, especially at this time.

“I think Dunks [Sophia Dunkley] has also volunteered, which is great. We all need to stay home, protect the NHS and help save lives but this scheme, if you’re in a position to help, is another way to help those on the frontlines.”

It was less than a month ago that Knight was in Australia, leading her England side to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, only to lose out on a place in the final after their clash with India was washed out. India, by virtue of having topped their group in the pool phase of the competition, qualified for the final as a result.

Knight was in fine form, combining a first T20I century against Thailand with 62 against Pakistan during a fruitful tournament on a personal level.

Dunkley, meanwhile, played the most recent of her 10 T20Is in March 2019 in Colombo against Sri Lanka. She recently joined Surrey, having played for Middlesex for the previous seven years.