With England’s tour of New Zealand closely following the 02 edition of India’s Women’s Premier League (WPL), several English players faced the dilemma of choosing between participating in the league, meaning absence from 3 games of the New Zealand tour. However, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise for an English opener Tammy Beaumont, who had long been stagnant at 99 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
England’s Tammy Beaumont last featured in a T20I back in January 2022 during the away Women’s Ashes series. In this format, she has accumulated 1721 runs from 83 innings, including a highest score of 116, with an average of 23.90 and a strike rate of 108.37.
Being sidelined from the T20I squads felt akin to “ripping a band-aid off a pretty big wound,” Beaumont recently disclosed during an interaction with Sky Sports. She revealed that thoughts of retirement from the shortest format, or even cricket altogether, crossed her mind to avoid the “heartbreak of getting that phone call saying I still wasn’t in the squad.”
Reflecting on her challenging period, where she was uncertain of fighting for a spot in the team, Beaumont expressed, “It was definitely not certain (that I would fight for my place). My career has always been a bit up and down and there have been times where I have thought about throwing it all in… You want to be the best in all formats and the ego takes a bit if a dent when you are not in one of them, so it was definitely a tough time.”
Nonetheless, she rose to the challenge and 2022 was a year of progress. In the Charlotte Edwards (CE) Cup, she managed 136 runs from 4 T20 outings at a strike rate of 125.02. Additionally, in the Women’s Hundred, she accumulated 138 runs from 6 appearances at a strike rate of 116.94. Later in the year, during the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), she scored 194 runs, with 77 coming in an inning, at a strike rate of 119.01, across 11 outings.
Tammy Beaumont focused on honing her skills to play more attacking cricket, but her performances in 2022 didn’t significantly boost her chances of securing a spot in the T20I squad. Early in 2023, England toured South Africa for the T20 World Cup and Beaumont made the most of the ring view. Watching her mates Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt power England to their highest score in the competition’s history of 213 against Pakistan in the group stage left her feeling “desperate to try to get back involved. It looked so much fun to be a part of.”
Quoting, Beaumont, “Before that I had probably been challenged to improve that attacking mindset and been umming and ahhing over whether I was good enough to do it but I then saw Nat and Danni go about their business.”
Determined to rejuvenate her game, a new-look Beaumont made her mark in competitions throughout 2023. In the CE Cup, she struck at an impressive rate of 142.53, accumulating 191 runs from 6 outings. In the Hundred, her form continued to shine as she amassed 290 runs from 8 appearances, striking at an exceptional rate of 153.43. However, her WBBL campaign, though fruitful with 296 runs from 14 T20 outings, saw her runs come at a slightly lower strike rate of 119.35.
Notably, Beaumont’s exceptional form didn’t translate into a call-up when England toured India for 5 T20Is. However, it was work done from her end, and termed the 2023 summer “one of the most enjoyable playing summers I have had in a long time.” She further added, “Whether I play another T20 international or not, I think it has reinvigorated my career and made me enjoy the game again.”
With Alice Capsey, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and Danni Wyatt set to miss the first three T20Is against New Zealand due to their WPL commitments, Tammy Beaumont’s dedication and hard work of two years have finally paid off. She has been named in the squad for all 5 T20Is and is likely to earn her landmark 100th T20I cap.
The year 2023 was particularly memorable for Beaumont as she not only rejuvenated her game but also achieved remarkable milestones in the Women’s Ashes series. She became just the second woman in history, after Heather Knight, to score a century across all three international formats. She further solidified her place in history by converting her century into a double (208), setting the highest-ever score by an Englishwoman in Test history and becoming the first to score a double century.
With 217 international games, 5895 runs, 30 fifties, and 11 centuries to her name, the significance of reaching her 100th T20I cannot be overstated for one of England’s finest batters, Tammy Beaumont.
(Quotes sourced from Sky Sports)