Like many, Tammy Beaumont took a fancy to cricket after watching her brother play the game. She used to accompany him to the grounds and soon started playing because she got bored just watching.
Beaumont is brutally honest on why she played cricket. Her infectious smile made her an instant hit with the young brigade in the media team at Dharamshala and the English cricketer graciously joined them in a series of selfie-clicking process. Tammy had just won the ‘Player-of-the-Match’ award and was in a mood to celebrate the moment with her young fans.
She made 31 off 23 balls with five fours and a daringly flicked six to midwicket. The crowd loved her. “Coming in with a positive attitude and self belief at the top of the order has helped my game. I am enjoying the role. It feels great to contribute to win,” she said, basking in the glory of her match-deciding show against the West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20 here.
At 25, Tammy is a bright spot in English cricket. And maturity oozes in her game as she reflects on the last-ball win over the West Indies. “Obviously we would like to win before the last over but winning has to become a habit. It was always a turning wicket and credit to West Indies they bowled well. They had more spinners and the wicket was going to suit them more than us maybe. I think the wicket was quite consistent. Two setbacks both of us going in the space of one over made it quite tough. We are not too worries about that.”
World Cup goal
Tammy has set her sights on the World Cup. “I would like England to win the World Cup,” she had said in the run-up to the tournament. She bats for the women when she backs the suggestion to have better pitches than the one at Dharamsala.
“I think in terms of spectator point of view we might like to see slightly flatter wickets so that we have more high-scoring games but I think everyone watching here enjoyed that right till the end. I am sure they enjoyed the end of the Indian game as well. I don’t think high-scoring games are always thrilling. Sometimes low scoring games can be very exciting. In terms of women’s cricket it might be better to have flatter wickets.”
The English batswoman echoed the same views of West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor when she quipped, “We have the talent but on pitches like these we don’t get to play the kind of shots we would like to. It can be frustrating sometimes.”
Thanks to Tammy Beaumont, England has stayed on course for a semi-final berth. A win against Pakistan in the final league match at Chennai on March 27 would seal that spot.
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