Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont to retire after India Test

Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont will end their England careers after the Rothesay Test against India at Lord’s, a match that has become the first women’s Test at the home of cricket. Knight announced on July 11, 2026 that she would retire from international cricket after the game, four days after Beaumont set the same exit point for July 8.

Knight’s departure closes one of the defining stretches in England women’s cricket. She made her England debut in 2010 and leaves as the side’s all-time record appearance maker with 320 caps. She captained England 199 times between 2016 and 2025 and oversaw 134 victories, a run that included the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup triumph at Lord’s. Before the Test, Knight had scored 7,988 international runs and six centuries, numbers that reflect both her durability and her central place in the team’s batting order.

Beaumont’s record gives the same sense of scale. She has played 260 times for England since her debut in 2009 and retires as England Women’s leading ODI centurion with 12 hundreds. At the 2017 World Cup, she was Player of the Tournament after scoring 410 runs, a performance that helped define England’s title-winning campaign and put her among the most dependable top-order players in the women’s game. Between them, Knight and Beaumont have made 580 England appearances.

Their exits come at a delicate moment for England. The side is still dealing with the disappointment of its defeat to Australia in the T20 World Cup final, while the next major target is the 2027 Ashes. That leaves England facing a double reset at once: the loss of Knight’s long-standing leadership and Beaumont’s proven run-scoring at the top of the order. England now has to decide who carries the captaincy and which batters can replace two players who have anchored the side through its most successful modern era.

Knight said she was content with the decision and described the dressing room as a constant in her life for 16 years. Her retirement, alongside Beaumont’s, marks the end of a core partnership that helped move England women’s cricket from a familiar presence to a side expected to win major tournaments and perform on the sport’s biggest stages.