We have to protect 50-over cricket at all costs, says Tammy Beaumont

Mumbai, Dec 6

Amidst the proliferation of franchise T20 leagues in the world, England opener Tammy Beaumont has called for protecting the 50-over format of the game, especially from a women’s cricket perspective. The future of 50-over format has been a subject of huge debate, despite the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup happening successfully in India.

"We see the men's game talking about 50-over cricket: 'is it even worth doing?' Well, if only four nations are playing Test cricket in women's cricket, then we have to protect 50-over cricket at all costs. "I think everyone would love to have loads of Test-playing nations and play big Test series but, at the moment, that's not a reality."

"At the same time, if you're just a Test match player and you play two Tests a year, you're not playing much cricket. Hopefully we can keep and protect all formats of cricket and not just jump on the wave of T20 and leave everything else behind," said Tammy on ESPNCricinfo’s Ladies Who Switch podcast.

Tammy is currently in Mumbai as a member of England’s squad for the four-day Test against India happening from December 14-17 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, with the country set to host a women’s Test after nine years. Tammy, who has scored 3650 runs in 109 ODIs, further believes it is crucial for women's cricket to take care of all three versions of the international game.

"The more the game goes on, I think the more it'll diversify and there's more talent in every country, so now you can almost field very different teams depending on the format. I just hope that other formats outside of T20 aren't left behind because that's a real issue that has happened in the men's game."

"One of the few good things about the women's game, being quite a long way behind the men's game still, is that we can learn from the mistakes of the men's game. The WPL and all the franchise leagues, and the investment, and the amount of money that has come into the women's game are absolutely amazing and some might say overdue, but also I think we need to protect where the game's come from."

Tammy isn’t a member of the England T20I team, having played the format internationally two years ago and is stuck at 99 caps. The right-handed batter signed off by saying she will continue to put in consistent performances, while leaving the selection question to the people in power.

"That's up to the selectors. They've got a good idea of what their World Cup team might look like and you've just got to keep putting your hand up and churn out runs and put in match-winning performances."

"At the same time, you can't control everything. There's so many good T20 players in England now, particularly opening the batting. Everyone's putting their hand up to try and have a go in the powerplay. If I got an opportunity it would be amazing but at the same time, just keep going."