London, Jun 10 (IANS): Heather Knight, England women's team skipper, and Middlesex's bowling all-rounder James Harris have been designated as vice-chairs of the Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) with immediate effect.

Both players will now take positions on the PCA Board and support Chairman Daryl Mitchell who leads the PCA Players' Committee. The new roles will see the pair provide support to Mitchell and provide further guidance to the PCA in the aim to champion the ongoing interests of professional cricketers in England and Wales, said PCA on its website.

Knight has captained England since 2016 and has helped transform the women's game, highlighted by the 2017 World Cup victory. The 29-year-old also played a key part in establishing the England Women's Player Partnership and remains on the EWPP Committee to ensure contractual and commercial rights of players are protected.

Harris, on the other hand, started his career at Glamorgan, making his debut at the age of 16. After a successful start to his career, he moved to Middlesex and has established himself in the county game, playing 261 games and taking 620 wickets in his 13-year career to date.

The 30-year-old joined the Players' Committee in 2017 and has played an important role in representing the views of the Middlesex squad, which included voting through the County Partnership Agreement in June 2019.

"I am delighted to welcome both Heather and James onto the PCA Board. Both bring vast amounts of experience and knowledge across the professional game and I have no doubt they will make the PCA even stronger," PCA Chairman, Daryl Mitchell, said.

Knight, said: "I am really pleased to be elected onto the PCA Board as a Vice Chair.

"I have worked really closely with the PCA since I have been captain and the women's game is growing so quickly so I think it is really important to have a voice on there for the women's game, not just for the international players, but for the domestic players that are joining the professional game in the next few months."

The first PCA board meeting is set to take place around mid-July and both Knight and Harris will be a part of that meetup. "The role of vice-chairs is an important one to add further structure to the PCA Players' Committee," Mitchell said.

"I am honoured to be given this opportunity. I've been doing more and more work with the PCA over the last few years and helping Daryl out with any extra support he has needed as part of my role on the Players' Committee," said Harris.