Upcoming Cricket Star – Cameron Knight

By Ayush

Winner of the Arch Cawsey Batting Award and the 2021 Champion Player Award for Parramatta District, Cameron Knight, a 12-year-old wicketkeeper batsman from Sydney, Australia is being hailed as an up-and-coming cricketing star of tomorrow. Knight, who is just 12 years old, has had a stellar cricketing career so far. He currently captains the Wenty Leagues U14/1s team and the Parramatta District Reps U13/1s team for the second year running. He has also won the Batting Average & Aggregate Award and the 50 Runs in an Inning Award for the Wenty Leagues. Previously Knight has played for the NSW Hurricanes and before that for the Wenty Leagues U10s while still being only 7 years old.

Speaking to Indus Age, Knight said he started as a 5-year-old by playing Milo cricket and after gaining an interest in the game he would regularly play with his two elder brothers. “My elder brothers treated me as their equal so I had to really keep up with them which has helped me bring my standards of batting, bowling and wicketkeeping up,” he said. 

Talking about his first experience in playing proper cricket, he said, “I was 6 when I started playing like actually. Nobody really wanted me but there was this really nice guy named Steve Hansen who let me play for his team in the winter cricket comp…so that was the first time trying to bat, bowl and wicket-keep and it went really well.” Knight said he admires Australian batsman, Steve Smith, a lot and also loves the Australian bowler, Mitchell Starc who could bowl at a speed of 160kmph. On being asked if he only keeps wickets or tries bowling as well, considering his admiration for Starc, Knight responded, “Mostly I am a keeper-batsman, sometimes I try bowling in club games but no in rep competitions.”

As cricket is considered to be summer-only sport in Australia, unlike in the South Asian nations, so on being asked about his off-season, Knight said, “Cricket is a passion that I enjoy. Be it summer or winter you can always find me with a bat or ball in my hand. Me and my friends play in the winter comp for fun where we verse other teams, just have fun and mess around but from next year onwards my dad and I are thinking of taking up a different sport for the winter season…. I still like to go and play basketball outside in the park…shooting hoops with friends.”

Outside of cricket, Knight described himself as a school-going kid who likes to play basketball outside with his brothers, stay at home and watch movies with his mother, likes to spend the day with his if he is around or sometimes going out with his friends. Knight has balanced his academics and cricket extremely well as he says, “Its really not that hard, just homework and assessments, so not a lot, really easy sometimes. He further credits his parents and brothers for encouraging him and helping him strike a perfect balance between cricket and everyday life.

Knight aspires to become a professional cricketer and wishes to play for the NSW domestic side – NSW Blues and one of the Big Bash League franchises before ultimately achieving his dream of playing for the Australian Cricket Team. “My dad and mum know my studies and they also know my cricket; they are really nice and supportive if me playing cricket and so are my brothers and friends. They are all very supportive of me wanting to become a cricketer in the future,” said Knight who also added that he is especially grateful to his father for taking him to all matches and trainings and cheering him on. Ahead of Australia’s summer of cricket, Knight is eagerly looking forward to a great season of cricket and winning the championships with his fellow mates.