Tammy Beaumont: "You certainly feel more anxious around a Test. There are more nerves because we haven't had the opportunity to master it. You are constantly a young player in Test cricket, no matter how old your body feels"; Women's Test in Navi Mumbai starts on Thursday from 4am
Tuesday 12 December 2023 16:13, UK
England batter Tammy Beaumont admits players "feel more anxious" heading into a Test as they prepare to face India in a one-off match in Navi Mumbai from Thursday.
England have mostly played Test matches on home soil, the last in June when Australia won by 89 runs at Trent Bridge.
The last time England played red-ball cricket overseas was January 2022, when they played out a dramatic draw against Australia in Canberra.
Women's Test matches are usually one-off games as part of a multi-format series and Beaumont thinks players feel more nerves around the longest format due to the fact they do not come around that often.
"You certainly feel more anxious around a Test match week," the opener said.
"You have the likes of me, Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt who have been playing international cricket for 12-14 years and we haven't even played that many Tests, maybe 10 or 12, so if you think of that as white-ball cricket that is your first year.
"So, there are more nerves because we haven't had the opportunity to master it. You are constantly a young player in Test cricket, no matter how old your body feels. In the men's game, 10 Tests is not even a career, it's a start.
"I love Test cricket and each and every one of us would love to play more Test cricket and I'm almost interested to see what India do with the Australia Test match straight after. If that goes well, I could see a future doing two-Test or three-Test series against the top nations, which I think would be amazing."
England finish their tour of India with the Test at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai after they sealed a 2-1 win in their recent three-match T20 series at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium.
Despite the gap between Tests, Beaumont will be looking to transfer some of her form from the summer.
The right-hander hit 208 against Australia, becoming the first English woman to score a Test double-century.
She added: "(We're) not coming in with too many pre-conceived ideas of how the pitch is going to play or what a Test match in India might look like.
"We have found the wickets have played nicely and there's a bit in it for the bowlers and batters, so not thinking you have to work on playing spin so much, but it's been a really good preparation period.
"Talking about something that happened six months ago (her double-hundred against Australia) can't really count as form, but certainly nice to know that was your last Test match and you go in with a lot of confidence."
This will be England's first Test in India since 2005.
Beaumont is hoping they can continue the momentum of interest injected into women's cricket from the summer following the success of the Ashes and The Hundred.
"It's good that we got the broadcast deal so people can watch it back home," she said.
"On the whole, it has been really positive as we got a lot of sell-outs in the Ashes and into the Hundred the crowds every week were a record crowd.
"I think people are really taking notice of women's cricket in England which is good to see and hopefully they will be right behind us for the Test as well.
"We want to inspire the next generation of female cricketers, not only in England but across the world, so we will be playing a way of cricket that people will want to watch."
England's one-off Test against India in Navi Mumbai starts on Thursday from 4am. Follow the action across Sky Sports' digital platforms.
