One of the finest careers in international women’s cricket came to an end with the first-ever Women’s Test at Lord’s. Heather Knight, who led England to the 2017 World Cup victory at the same venue, admitted it wasn’t a perfect end. England suffered a 270-run defeat to India.

“Life isn’t perfect, cricket isn’t perfect and it wasn’t the perfect ending, but so happy to be involved in a Test match at Lord’s,” Knight said. “That was one of the reasons I wanted to finish here. To do it at Lord’s, a ground so special for me and I have had so many amazing memories here – and I guess it is my new place of work (as general manager of London Spirit), so that is cool and I think it has been an amazing occasion.”

She pointed out England didn’t have much time to prepare for the Test. “It was an incredibly quick turnaround from the T20 World Cup, two days to prepare, which is a really hard thing to do, but it has been an immense occasion,” she said. “I have tried to take it in, look around and it has been super special to have a lot of friends and family here who knew it was my last game.”

About her decision to retire, she said she had been contemplating it since the start of the year. “I was thinking this may be the case,” Knight, who has to her credit more than 8,000 international runs. “This has been a really exciting summer to be involved in, home World Cup and the Test match. I knew I had probably had one big shift to give and whether I had the energy to give any more, I wasn’t totally sure. I am super happy and I am really excited for what is next.”