Heather Knight column: ‘Brian May asked me to turn Queen off’

I did not sleep too well after we lost our opening match of the Women’s T20 World Cup to South Africa.

I’m really proud of the way the girls fought back with the ball. It’s a real trait of this side and the character we show when our backs are against the wall.

To take it to the last over was a great job but, ultimately, not getting enough runs cost us.

You can find yourself stewing after these close games – I’ve already found 15 runs we could have saved in the field in multiple ways.

Sometimes I get the girls together after a match and we talk through things, but it was a late finish and after a close loss, you can think too emotionally.

I find it’s better to have informal conversations and let everyone sleep on it – or get a dreadful sleep, as I did – and then assess the game unemotionally.

We have to move on quickly because every day will be massive from now on, and we have to be ready to face Thailand on Wednesday.

‘Is it like me seeing Justin Bieber?’

I had an interesting encounter before our match against South Africa on Sunday…

I was in the gym with Ian Durrant, our strength and conditioning coach, doing some pre-match priming.

We’re both big into indie and rock music and we opted for Queen, who were playing a gig down the road from our hotel that evening.

Halfway through ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ blaring out, I look up from my plank and I see a big mess of floppy hair in front of me.

And I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s Brian May!’

I don’t get starstruck but I’m a huge fan and seeing him was jaw-dropping. He got on the exercise bike with his security posse and started working out.

Three of Queen’s Greatest Hits songs later, his security man came over to us and said: “Sorry, Brian would like you to stop playing Queen please!”

Sophie Ecclestone and a lot of the younger players had no clue who he was, which I was mortified at.

She said to me: “Oh, is it like the equivalent of me seeing Justin Bieber in the gym?”

Which made me a little sad, actually. But there you go. The youth of today!

Ian and I are collecting celebrities. We were next to Paul McCartney once doing a headstand at Lord’s! I’m a huge fan of The Verve so Richard Ashcroft is next on my list.

‘The girls are calling me Squashie’

I have developed a new nickname since I’ve been out here – Squashie.

Squashies are little pink and white sweets and, according to Sophie, because of my awful tan lines I look like one of them!

I am a bit annoyed: I’ve got a lot of weddings coming up and I am maid of honour at one as soon as we get back.

My best mate has picked me out a dress with no sleeves. Mate, I travel the world! I always have tan lines – I need sleeves!

We’ve been in Australia for a month now and my mum has just arrived. She’s struggling quite badly with the jet lag, but it’s nice to have her here.

She doesn’t come on too many trips so it’s lovely to see her. A lot of parents and partners arrived the day before our game.

Seeing familiar faces gives players a chance to get away from the pressure cooker of international cricket and relax. I’m also looking for TV recommendations to keep me going on our flights.

But I’ll still be watching analysis videos of Thailand on our flight to Canberra. We know they are here to compete in this tournament, and we have to be ready for them.

Heather Knight was speaking to BBC Sport’s Amy Lofthouse