"It’s great to tick it off" - Tammy Beaumont elated after realizing her dream of scoring Ashes hundred
It has been England opener Tammy Beaumont's dream since 2005 to score an Ashes hundred. And she finally did so on Day 2 of the one-off Test in Nottingham.
After bowling Australia out for 473, England reached 218-2 at stumps, thanks to Beaumont's unbeaten ton. The right-handed batter added 115 with Heather Knight, who gloved one off Ashley Gardner to Alyssa Healy for 57.
Following the day's play, the keeper-batter said she was confident about England winning the Test, considering their current position. As quoted by the Evening Standard, she said:
"If we go on to win this Test match then it would be right up there. Let’s wait and see. It’s great to tick it off and yes, as a kid, I dreamt of scoring an Ashes Test hundred - pretty much since 2005 that has been my goal. But as I’ve gone on, it’s contributing to the team. Ask me on day five if we win and I think it’ll be a yes. I’m a typical opening batter and love the ball coming on. I played a lot of men’s cricket as a kid so almost the faster it comes to me the easier I find it."
Beaumont reached her first century in Test cricket off 152 deliveries and has so far smacked 16 fours. After Knight's departure, she added an unbroken 67 with Nat Sciver, who has raced to 41 off 44 balls.
"It’s always good to look back at personal milestones" - Tammy Beaumont
With Tammy Beaumont becoming only the second England cricketer after Heather Knight to score a hundred across formats, she revealed how the captain welcomed her to the club, saying:
"Heather said to me when I came into the changing room ‘welcome to the club.' I didn’t realise she meant the all three formats one, I thought she just meant an Ashes hundred or something. It’s always good to look back at personal milestones and nice to tick that one off - something that I thought probably might evade me as I’m coming to the latter half of my career."
The home side will look to get as close to Australia's first-innings total on Day 3 and put them under pressure.