Charli Knott was signed up for the Brisbane Heat when she was still at school, but she is so understated that some of her friends were not even aware.
The high school decision which helped shape Knotty's career
They just wondered why she sometimes wasn’t at school.
“To be fair, I kept it pretty quiet because I’m not one to boast,” Knott says.
“I think some of my school friends were probably wondering where I was most of the time.
“I had to take a chunk of time off school but my school was very accommodating so that was great.
“To be honest, I was actually right into soccer when I was young and I started playing cricket because I wanted a sport to play in the off-season.
“Soccer was a winter sport and cricket a summer sport, so that worked out well.
Fast forward to 2024 and the batter, now 21, has furthered her cricket education by heading overseas to play for the Southern Vipers team in England.
Knott is studying a physiotherapy degree but she put that on hold to experience cricket – and life – in Europe.
It has built her skills and her know-how ahead of a bumper summer with the Heat.
“It was very exciting to play in England, the main goal was to play more cricket and I ended up playing about 30 games over there so I definitely achieved that,” Knott says.
“In Australia, in our pre-season, it is mainly training based so it was good to get over to England and spend time in the middle without worrying too much about practising in the nets.
“Charlotte Edwards, who is a cricket legend, was coaching the Vipers so to play under her was a great experience because she knows a lot about the game and has played at the highest level.
“Playing over there was good for sharpening my technique because you can't get away with as much as the ball doesn't bounce as much on the pitches there.
“From a technical standpoint, that was probably main benefit
“I also managed to get two sneaky three-day getaways in, I went to Majorca and also the French Riviera so that was a lot of fun.”
On returning to Australia, Knott was named captain of the Australia ‘A’ side that beat India ‘A’.
She got to lead her country in front of her old home town in Mackay where she spent four years of her upbringing.
“There was no rest, I just went into the next competition which was good and it was super exciting to play in the Australian colours," she says.
“I did live in Mackay for four years but in all honesty, I don’t have too much of a connection to the place these days.
“Mackay does like to claim me as their own though!”
Knott’s last Big Bash season was a breakthrough – she won the WBBL Young Gun award and played a key role with her middle to lower order finishing dynamic with the bat and she also bowled her offspinners as the Heat made the final only to lose to the Strikers.
Knott is still young but she says, even since she started playing top-level cricket, she has noted that it is a career path that is really flourishing for female players.
“I was playing junior cricket with the boys when I first started and now there's a lot more female pathways,” Knott says.
“I’ve definitely come into the game at the right time.
“There are a lot more competitions to get girls into cricket and the female game has become a lot more competitive in general.
“It’s come a long way even in the short time since I started playing.”