Women’s Ashes 2023: Record knock from Tammy Beaumont, but Australia take the lead
Women’s Ashes 2023: On day three of the one and only Women’s Ashes Test in Nottingham, Tammy Beaumont made history by becoming the first female cricketer from England to register a Test double hundred.
In order to put Australia on the back foot, Beaumont, who was unbeaten on 100 at day two’s stumps, resumed her partnership with Nat Sciver-Brunt early on day three. However, Australia made a breakthrough before lunch when Sciver-Brunt (78) was bowled by Ashleigh Gardner, who again provided the breakthrough.
Beaumont, though, carried on from her strong performance in the warm-up game against Australia A, where she had dismissed another double ton, in full bloom.
Women’s Ashes 2023: Tammy Beaumont stood in solidarity to reach the record-breaking double ton
Early on, debutante Danni Wyatt provided her with excellent company, but when she fell, Beaumont swiftly lost companions on the other end. However, she finished her double hundred a little bit earlier, becoming the first English woman to reach the milestone in Test cricket.
She broke Betty Snowball’s 1935 record of 189 to capture the English record. Additionally, this was the seventh double hundred in women’s tests, with Pakistan’s Kiran Baluch leading the list with her 242 against the West Indies in 2004.
Beaumont was the final wicket to fall as England lost their final five in a span of 52 runs, handing Australia a 10-run lead.
Once the squad reached day three’s stumps, the visitors added to their advantage thanks to an unbroken 82-run partnership between Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield.
Beaumont proves there’s ‘life in the old girl yet’ with epic England-record 208
Tammy Beaumont was fired from England’s T20 lineup last summer, just before a crucial Commonwealth Games campaign. It was the kind of devastating blow that would force any self-respecting athlete to reevaluate their goals.
I went away, and asked myself if I even wanted to play anymore. I wondered whether it was time, whether I was past it … I decided I wasn’t.
The player herself acknowledged that many of the lessons from that setback had informed her innings of 208, the highest by an England Women’s player in Tests, even though it would be stretching the truth to say that Beaumont’s record-breaking Test double-century on day three of the Women’s Ashes Test was a direct retort to the selectors for their decision to drop her from England’s T20 set-up (after 99 caps).
“I thought, you know what? There’s life in the old girl yet. I’m only 32. So I worked hard, and changed my mindset to being as positive as possible, and get back to the Tammy Beaumont of a couple years ago.”
Beaumont told Sky Sports at the close of a momentous third day at Trent Bridge
When Beaumont withdrew on 201 from 238 balls in England’s three-day exhibition match against Australia A on a Leicester field that was even more favourable for batting than this Trent Bridge surface, she had provided a preview of what was to come. Her most recent innings featured flawless footwork, strokeplay, and focus that lasted more than eight hours after she had spent the whole of the previous day and a half fielding at close range.
By the end of play, Australia had increased their lead to 92 runs without a loss, and Gardner noted that the pitch had begun to show some fractures, which might work in their favour on the fifth day. Beaumont believed there were still runs in the surface yet. And it felt safe to argue that she knew all about that.
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