We need more full time cricketers: Tammy Beaumont

In the latest interaction with Sky Sports, the England women's cricket team opener Tammy Beaumont has opened up on the gap between men's and women's cricket. 

Beaumont also opined on the research by the Women's Sports Trust, which showed that a record 15.1 million were a witness to the women's cricket games in the first three months of this year, with the Women's World Cup attracting a 13% share. 

The 31-year-old admitted that England did well to reach the finals after three consecutive losses, but the game can go higher. She further added that comparing men's with women's cricket can kill the game. 

"The game can absolutely go higher. The biggest thing that sometimes holds it back is the comparison to the men's game – people saying, 'women don't bowl 90mph, don't hit sixes, don't hit the ball as hard. It can kill the game," she said to Sky Sports. 

"You need to see it for what it is, see that it is different, judge it for what it is. It should still be critiqued when it falls short, as we need that if we want to improve. But it doesn't help if people say, 'she wouldn't do very well against Jofra Archer, would she?' Those sorts of things really aren't helpful," she added.

Further, Beaumont reckoned that the Australian team have found success as they have around 90 full-time professional cricketers, and they certainly improve their game as they play various tournaments all around the year. 

"One of the reasons Australia are so good is that they have got 90-plus full-time professional cricketers that genuinely do not have to do anything else to make money other than play cricket 12 months a year. 

On the other hand, the England team has just 20. This statement came from the opening batter due to the fact that they lost the Women's ODI World Cup 2022 Final to Australia by 71 runs. 

"Over here, there are just under 20 England players that can do that, but teams in our domestic, regional structure have only got about six players each getting paid full-time," she added. 

Beaumont supported the move to raise the players' salary taking part in the women's Hundred competition. But, she thinks the tournament covers only a small part of the year, and the players do an odd job in their off-season. 

"It is obviously great to see the pay rises in The Hundred, but that is only for a small part of the year. The rest of the time, a lot of these players are having to work, coach or whatever to get by."

The 31-year-old thinks England can only perform well if the squad is professional and can train full time, which will undoubtedly improve the standard and promote a competitive environment. 

"It has to get to the point where your whole squad is professional and can train full-time. That will improve the standard and competition for places.

"That then creates an environment where you have to be pushing on and getting better. If you don't have that competition, things can stagnate, the team might not move forward, and you can get caught out," Beaumont concluded. 

In their next assignment, England will play against South Africa in a 3-match T20I series and as many matches in the ODI format, which will get underway in the latter half of the following month.