Tammy Beaumont scores first double century by an Englishwoman in Test cricket - will that performance get her back in England's T20 team? Opener talks to Sky Sports about her innings, her future and the state of the one-off Test versus Australia after day three
Sunday 25 June 2023 10:23, UK
Tammy Beaumont says being dropped from England's T20 squad last year fuelled her desire to carry on playing cricket after she scored a double century in the Women's Test against Australia.
Beaumont's 208 from 331 balls at Trent Bridge is the highest by an England player in a Women's Test - eclipsing the 189 Betty Snowball had struck against New Zealand in 1935 - and the fifth-best by anyone in the women's game.
The 32-year-old's innings, and strike-rate of 62.84, may help in her quest to regain her place in the shortest format but she says she has "made peace" with the fact she may be stuck on 99 T20 international caps.
Speaking to Sky Sports after day three in Nottingham, the opener said: "When I got dropped from the T20 squad it was a bit of a blow and made me go away and look at whether I even wanted to play anymore, whether it was time, whether I was past it.
"I decided I wasn't. I went away and worked hard, decided there was life in the old girl yet.
"I worked on a couple of things, changed my mindset and tried to be as positive as possible, take the game to the opposition and get back to the Tammy Beaumont of a few years ago.
"Lewy [England head coach Jon Lewis] challenged me to not play myself in but play to my strengths and I have practised all winter."
On possibly returning to England's T20 squad, Beaumont added: "It is going to take something special to break into that team. I am desperate to be part of it, yes.
"I am going to give my all in regional cricket and if I play in leagues around the world and if I get another go it would be amazing, it would be my 100th cap.
"But I have made peace with the fact that if I never play another T20 for England I have gone out my way."
Beaumont now has centuries in all three formats with her maiden Test ton adding to nine one-day international hundreds and one in T20 internationals.
The right-hander resumed on Saturday morning on 100 from 154 balls and proceeded to add another 108 runs to help England to 463 all out, just 10 runs shy of Australia's first-innings 473.
"I can't quite believe it. I had a day out, I was in the zone the entire time. I was steely-eyed, broke it down but it was never personal milestones. It was always, 'get us 100 behind, 50 behind'. It was the team needing me to score another 25 or whatever.
"Lewis has used the word 'rehearsal' - not just in your skills but in your mindset. I guess I have found a groove the last couple of weeks [after also scoring a double hundred in a warm-up]. The main thing I told myself was to play straight and not get hit on the pads and it worked.
"I was pretty calm for 300-odd balls but thought if you are going to score a hundred to really let it rip. It was an amazing feeling.
"They wanted me to do an interview with a different broadcaster at tea when I was on 195. I was like, 'Get. Off. The. Pitch!' To get nearly level to the Aussies was the goal and to contribute in that way [was great]."
Australia extended their lead over England to 92 by stumps with openers Phoebe Litchfield (41no) and Beth Mooney (33no) sharing an unbroken partnership of 82.
Beaumont added: "There is a really big morning session on Sunday. [Hopefully] we can get a few wickets and get on a roll.
"You are seeing that the wickets are coming in clusters now and it is quite hard pitch to start on. I think it is evenly poised so it will be about the first two sessions."
Former England bowler Katherine Sciver-Brunt on Tammy Beaumont:
"She is such a resilient person in general but an absolute fighter when it comes to playing for England. She's got that thing about her where she can turn fifties and hundreds into 150s and, today, a double-hundred.
"She can just reset and go again, reset and go again. Not many people have that. I am delighted for her and it's nothing but brilliant for England to have Tammy in the runs.
"She's fantastic in the way she prepares. She used to annoy the hell out of me in the nets. I knew each session, I couldn't relax or have an off day, settle into a spell or bowl at 75 per cent - anything like that. It was always a battle. She never gave in.
"When Mark Robinson was head coach, he was extremely superstitious. If 111 was on the board, you'd have to have your feet off the ground, you'd put your left pad on first, if someone was batting well, you could not change seats.
"Tammy adopted some of those, so her fiancé Callum hasn't been allowed to move, he's probably been stood up for the last two days. If he moved and she got out, she would have blamed it on him."
Watch day four of the Women's Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Sunday, with coverage starting at 10.15am and play getting under way from 11am.
