Tammy Beaumont is being wasted batting down the order, says Lydia Greenway
Greenway: "There have got to be some big decisions... about Tammy Beaumont and what her role is"
Tuesday 25 February 2020 06:52, UK
Tammy Beaumont is being wasted batting down the order for England, according to Sky Sports pundit Lydia Greenway.
Having excelled at the top of the order over the last few years, Beaumont was moved down to No 6 in the build-up to the Women's T20 World Cup and came in at seven during the defeat to South Africa in their opening game.
Greenway, who won the T20 World Cup with England in 2009, believes the 26-year-old needs to be batting higher if England are to get the best out of her in the tournament.
"There are critical moments in the game that need to be finished using those six, seven and eight roles but I think with Tammy Beaumont more so than Lauren Winfield, my sense is that she is potentially being wasted," Greenway told Sky Sports.
"She either has to be opening, which she's not going to do because Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt have taken those spots, so, for me, No 3 is the spot for Tammy Beaumont. Then you have Heather Knight and Nat Sciver.
"They're the players in the best form but also the best players of spin and we know that in the women's game, spin bowling is crucial. We saw against India that that was Australia's downfall because they couldn't manage to play Poonam Yadav effectively.
"Tammy Beaumont has to be facing more balls, statistically players coming in at seven, eight or nine will be facing seven balls as a maximum so to have her coming in that low down is a wasted position for me."
The change has come since Lisa Keightley has taken charge and Greenway is interested to see whether the new head coach will stick with the ploy ahead of England's second game with Thailand on Wednesday.
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"Perhaps a bit of rethinking for England to do and it will be interesting to see if they react and make a change so quickly or if Lisa Keightley wants to stick with it," she said.
"They've had so much time in Australia to be clear on what their order looks like but at the moment I just don't sense that real clarity on the roles of individual players and I think that's crucial.
"They've got two days now and there have got to be some big decisions, I think more about Tammy Beaumont and what her role is."
Watch England's second game in the T20 World Cup, against debutants Thailand, live on Sky Sports Cricket, Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Main Event from 3.30am on Wednesday.
