Tammy Beaumont has been here before, not so long ago, battling for runs but with a hand still firmly in her own destiny.
Having scored just 96 runs from nine innings so far, with a strike rate of 71.64 and highest score of 30 for Sydney Thunder in this edition of the WBBL, opener Beaumont is determined to “put that right”. Thunder need all the contributions they can get with four matches remaining ahead of the finals after defeats to Melbourne Stars and Perth Scorchers over the weekend saw them drop from second to fourth on the table.
“It’s a strange one, I can’t really put my finger on it,” Beaumont said. “I feel like I’ve been playing really well in the nets and then just getting out while I’m in the middle or not really getting off to a good start, which is obviously what we need. Hopefully I can put that right in the last few games and play a good knock for the team.”
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Beaumont found herself in a similar situation heading into England’s behind-closed-doors T20 series against West Indies in September, having played a limited role at the T20 World Cup as a floating batsman before a second-ball duck in her preferred position as opener when the same sides met in their last match of the global tournament.
She retained her place at the top of the order though, and her 62 from 49 balls handed hosts England a comfortable victory in the first match of the series they went on to sweep 5-0 against West Indies. Beaumont admitted to harbouring self-doubts going into that first game.
“I had a bit of a word to myself, said, ‘you’ve still got a hand in it, you’ve still got four or five games, just do your best, and just enjoy it and really embrace it,'” Beaumont said at the time.
Her half-century against West Indies remained her best score of the series and Thunder could do with a similar knock when they take on bottom side Melbourne Renegades on Tuesday.
Stars are three points clear on top, while the second-placed Scorchers are two points ahead of Brisbane Heat, then Thunder and Sydney Sixers, who are all locked on 10 points each and separated only by net run rate.
Having ground out 14 off 27 deliveries against Stars on Saturday, Beaumont unleashed a signature reverse sweep only to find England team-mate Nat Sciver, who sprung high to her left and pulled down a stunning catch at point. On Sunday, Beaumont faced just two balls for one run against Scorchers before she was caught behind by Beth Mooney off Nicole Bolton.
“It’s really full-on this season,” Beaumont said. “It’s almost games every two days so that’s something a little bit different to try and make sure you’re really on top of your recovery and all of that.
“I haven’t necessarily played as well as I wanted to yet… the standard is as strong as it’s ever been. I guess with this one because the games are coming so fast you don’t always get a chance to really prepare for your certain opposition. You’ve just got to bounce from one to the other.”
Despite facing a further onslaught of four matches in this coming week, it was the not playing before the tournament which Beaumont said she found the hardest, having to spend two weeks in strict quarantine.
“Being literally locked in a hotel room for 14 days with your treadmill was certainly a different experience but since we’ve been out, the bubble here is pretty big,” she said. “They’ve put a lot on for us. We just had a trivia night run by Grace Harris so there’s plenty going on.”
Beaumont’s on-field experience so far this tournament is in contrast to Thunder team-mate Heather Knight, the England captain, who is the competition’s fourth-highest run-scorer for the season with 295 at a strike rate of 121.90 and with three fifties. She has also taken eight wickets.
Knight hit back after a duck against Stars to strike 44 from as many balls against Scorchers but it was not enough as Thunder were bundled out for 97 chasing 132 to win.
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo
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