Latest news with #post-Ashes
The Herald Scotland
22-04-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Tammy Beaumont says England spots up for grabs in ‘extremely exciting' new era
That replaces the old regional structure and has delivered not only a huge uplift in full-time contracts, up to more than 150 from a base of just 40 at the start of the decade, but a commitment to greater off-field resources and support. 2️⃣4️⃣ hours to go 🔥 We kick off our 50-over campaign at 10.30 tomorrow morning with a visit from Lancashire here at Trent Bridge. 🎟️ — The Blaze 🔥 (@TheBlazeCricket) April 22, 2025 With Charlotte Edwards newly installed as England head coach after a period of post-Ashes blood-letting, there is also an entirely clean slate for players up and down the country to make their mark on. 'It's extremely exciting. I think anyone in this county set-up sticks their hand up they will be in with a shout. Performances are going to be at a premium,' Beaumont told the PA news agency. 'We know Charlotte is watching. She's watched every warm-up game, every live stream, she's texted me about how I've got on or asked, 'how did this person do?'. You won't find a more passionate person about England women's cricket and she's got a very clear vision of what she wants so these games are going to be so important. 'As recently as 2020, 2021 we didn't have masses of depth but with the contracts and tiers, competition for places has never been better. That's good for English cricket even though, at times, it's uncomfortable as a player because you've got to really earn your spot. 'International cricket is never easy so why would you want to play easier cricket to prepare for it? If I'm not trying to get better, to stay ahead, then it's time to move on.' Beaumont is a senior player with the Blaze, the Nottinghamshire-based side who have bucked the trend for traditional county names and who host Lancashire at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. Elsewhere, Essex travel to Durham, Surrey face Somerset at Beckenham and Edgbaston hosts Warwickshire against Hampshire. Beaumont, 34, is one of several survivors from the very first batch of professional women's contracts offered by the England and Wales Cricket Board to just 18 players in 2014. Charlotte Edwards is the new head coach of England Women (Ben Whitley/PA) And while that was heralded as a big step forward, in real terms it was a baby one towards the progress that has accelerated sharply in recent years. 'I'm now able to get more from a bat deal than I did in my initial England contract. It's utterly mad,' she said. 'I was on the lowest tier and I worked two days a week for the Chance to Shine charity to top my salary up to £17,000. I was still begging my parents to help with rent! 'So I think it's amazing to see how far the game has come and that the likes of myself, Heather Knight, Kate Cross, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones are still here playing and have seen it all. 'I don't think anyone can guess what it's going to look like in 10 years' time.'
The Independent
22-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Tammy Beaumont says England spots up for grabs in ‘extremely exciting' new era
Women's cricket begins a new era on Wednesday with the launch of the tier one county game and England's Tammy Beaumont believes international shirts will be won and lost as the competition heats up. After a lengthy gestation the inaugural fixtures in the women's Metro Bank One-Day Cup are at hand, with a fully professional top division of eight teams aligned to first-class counties. That replaces the old regional structure and has delivered not only a huge uplift in full-time contracts, up to more than 150 from a base of just 40 at the start of the decade, but a commitment to greater off-field resources and support. With Charlotte Edwards newly installed as England head coach after a period of post-Ashes blood-letting, there is also an entirely clean slate for players up and down the country to make their mark on. 'It's extremely exciting. I think anyone in this county set-up sticks their hand up they will be in with a shout. Performances are going to be at a premium,' Beaumont told the PA news agency. 'We know Charlotte is watching. She's watched every warm-up game, every live stream, she's texted me about how I've got on or asked, 'how did this person do?'. You won't find a more passionate person about England women's cricket and she's got a very clear vision of what she wants so these games are going to be so important. 'As recently as 2020, 2021 we didn't have masses of depth but with the contracts and tiers, competition for places has never been better. That's good for English cricket even though, at times, it's uncomfortable as a player because you've got to really earn your spot. 'International cricket is never easy so why would you want to play easier cricket to prepare for it? If I'm not trying to get better, to stay ahead, then it's time to move on.' Beaumont is a senior player with the Blaze, the Nottinghamshire-based side who have bucked the trend for traditional county names and who host Lancashire at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. Elsewhere, Essex travel to Durham, Surrey face Somerset at Beckenham and Edgbaston hosts Warwickshire against Hampshire. Beaumont, 34, is one of several survivors from the very first batch of professional women's contracts offered by the England and Wales Cricket Board to just 18 players in 2014. And while that was heralded as a big step forward, in real terms it was a baby one towards the progress that has accelerated sharply in recent years. 'I'm now able to get more from a bat deal than I did in my initial England contract. It's utterly mad,' she said. 'I was on the lowest tier and I worked two days a week for the Chance to Shine charity to top my salary up to £17,000. I was still begging my parents to help with rent! 'So I think it's amazing to see how far the game has come and that the likes of myself, Heather Knight, Kate Cross, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones are still here playing and have seen it all. 'I don't think anyone can guess what it's going to look like in 10 years' time.'
Powys County Times
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Powys County Times
Tammy Beaumont says England spots up for grabs in ‘extremely exciting' new era
Women's cricket begins a new era on Wednesday with the launch of the tier one county game and England's Tammy Beaumont believes international shirts will be won and lost as the competition heats up. After a lengthy gestation the inaugural fixtures in the women's Metro Bank One-Day Cup are at hand, with a fully professional top division of eight teams aligned to first-class counties. That replaces the old regional structure and has delivered not only a huge uplift in full-time contracts, up to more than 150 from a base of just 40 at the start of the decade, but a commitment to greater off-field resources and support. 2️⃣4️⃣ hours to go 🔥 We kick off our 50-over campaign at 10.30 tomorrow morning with a visit from Lancashire here at Trent Bridge. 🎟️ — The Blaze 🔥 (@TheBlazeCricket) April 22, 2025 With Charlotte Edwards newly installed as England head coach after a period of post-Ashes blood-letting, there is also an entirely clean slate for players up and down the country to make their mark on. 'It's extremely exciting. I think anyone in this county set-up sticks their hand up they will be in with a shout. Performances are going to be at a premium,' Beaumont told the PA news agency. 'We know Charlotte is watching. She's watched every warm-up game, every live stream, she's texted me about how I've got on or asked, 'how did this person do?'. You won't find a more passionate person about England women's cricket and she's got a very clear vision of what she wants so these games are going to be so important. 'As recently as 2020, 2021 we didn't have masses of depth but with the contracts and tiers, competition for places has never been better. That's good for English cricket even though, at times, it's uncomfortable as a player because you've got to really earn your spot. 'International cricket is never easy so why would you want to play easier cricket to prepare for it? If I'm not trying to get better, to stay ahead, then it's time to move on.' Beaumont is a senior player with the Blaze, the Nottinghamshire-based side who have bucked the trend for traditional county names and who host Lancashire at Trent Bridge on Wednesday. Elsewhere, Essex travel to Durham, Surrey face Somerset at Beckenham and Edgbaston hosts Warwickshire against Hampshire. Beaumont, 34, is one of several survivors from the very first batch of professional women's contracts offered by the England and Wales Cricket Board to just 18 players in 2014. And while that was heralded as a big step forward, in real terms it was a baby one towards the progress that has accelerated sharply in recent years. 'I'm now able to get more from a bat deal than I did in my initial England contract. It's utterly mad,' she said. 'I was on the lowest tier and I worked two days a week for the Chance to Shine charity to top my salary up to £17,000. I was still begging my parents to help with rent! 'So I think it's amazing to see how far the game has come and that the likes of myself, Heather Knight, Kate Cross, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones are still here playing and have seen it all. 'I don't think anyone can guess what it's going to look like in 10 years' time.'
The Guardian
07-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Kate Cross fears England have lost fans after debacle in Women's Ashes
Kate Cross has admitted there are 'cultural' issues within England women's cricket and said she fears England have 'lost fans' after a disastrous Women's Ashes series which saw England whitewashed by Australia 16-0 amid a sea of glaring fielding and batting errors. Cross, an unused squad member on the tour, also called on the England and Wales Cricket Board to leave no stone unturned in their review of the tour, which she said is crucial to ensuring the public 'fall back in love with English cricket'. The review is being led by the ECB managing director Clare Connor and was expected to conclude within four weeks of the tour. However, that deadline has now passed and there has been radio silence on the futures of head coach Jon Lewis and captain Heather Knight. As part of the review, all current England players have been asked to provide feedback to the director of England women's cricket, Jonathan Finch: Cross, it appears, has been unstintingly honest in her own account. 'I do believe as a team we do a lot of things really well, but there's areas we know we need to address, from cricket points of view, from cultural points of view,' Cross said. 'I don't know what's going to come of this review, but I'm hoping that these are the things that will get addressed and it will pave the way for the next generation to want to play for England. 'I feel we might have lost a few fans in the last couple of months, which is really sad from our point of view. We as cricketers know how bad that tour was – we're not going to try to sugarcoat that. But I'd like people to fall back in love with English cricket.' Cross's views are in stark contrast with those of Connor, who maintained in her own post-Ashes press conference that there were no cultural issues at play in the defeat. Cross further acknowledged that Lewis's 'inspire and entertain' mantra rang hollow by the end of a three week multi-format tour in which England did not win a game. 'We didn't play good cricket for any part of that tour,' she said. 'We can't come away from that and say that we want to inspire and entertain people when we're not doing our jobs as well as we should have done.' Cross was speaking at the launch of a new Women's Cricket Impact report by the Professional Cricketers' Association, which celebrates the increased professionalism of the women's game since 2021. Over the past four years, there has been a 430% increase in remuneration for the women's game across England, domestic cricket and Hundred. The average salary for an England women's player has increased by 236% since 2021, with centrally contracted players now earning up to £300,000 a year from the ECB when taking match fees into account. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion But as salaries have increased, so have public expectations of the team. 'The positive from a really terrible Ashes is that the scrutiny that we got showed how much more people are interested now. People care, and that is why there is so much frustration at the result,' Cross said. Cross added that the back injury which prevented her from playing in the Ashes was healing well. 'I'm on track for the start of the season,' she said.
