'Tammy Beaumont on way to becoming one of world's best'
Monday 4 July 2016 16:05, UK
England Women are a far more dynamic team under the stewardship of head coach Mark Robinson, Ebony Rainford-Brent told Cricket Writers on TV.
England posted scores of 378 and 366 during their thumping 3-0 ODI series win over Pakistan, with opener Tammy Beaumont becoming the first woman from her country to hit back-to-back ODI tons.
Former England star Rainford-Brent feels the side have improved vastly since they were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Women's World T20 by Australia during the spring.
And she also feels Beaumont - who had only passed 50 once in ODI before the Pakistan series - is on course to become one of the best players in the world.
"Mark Robinson came in straight away and made some changes that I really liked," said Rainford-Brent, who played 22 ODIs and seven T20Is for England.
"You could see he wanted a more dynamic play with England having not won a world tournament since 2009 - they hadn't really shown what they were capable of and had kind of gone backwards.
She has batted in almost every position but is now at No1 and is exploding into a potential world-class player.
"I don't think I have seen the players play with as much freedom in quite some time - Natalie Sciver hit 80 off 33 balls, while Beaumont and [Lauren] Winfield have been excellent up front.
"There has been a real injection of something and Beaumont has been the key - she has batted in almost every position but is now at No1 and is exploding into a potential world-class player."
England's superb white-ball form, plus home advantage, should make the side one of the favourites for the 2017 Women's World Cup, a competition they have won three times (1973, 1993, 2009).
But Rainford-Brent expects Heather Knight's side to find plenty of challengers next summer and the tournament to be one of the most closely-fought in years.
"England now have 12 months to blood this team," she added.
"But with Australia coming a long way, India showing something and West Indies winning the World T20 it could be a really tight World Cup and the most exciting we have seen in a long time."
Rainford-Brent was speaking during the inaugural Sky Sports Women's Cricket Week. Click here for more details.
