The Daily Telegraph - Sport

Action women of the year

Meet Tammy Beaumont and Anya Shrubsole

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When Anya Shrubsole explains how she won England the Women’s World Cup in July, and turned herself into an overnight national hero in the process, it all sounds rather straightfo­rward.

It came down to two balls. Neither claimed wickets – they would come later. Instead, they were delivered after Shrubsole had been clattered for consecutiv­e boundaries when returning to the attack for the 43rd over.

Suddenly, India needed 39 from 46 balls. With seven wickets in hand and two players set at the crease, they were cruising. But armed with the knowledge gleaned from her thesis in profession­al anxiety, Shrubsole knew what to do next. She had to stay calm.

“I had a bit of a fleeting thought that it was getting away from us and I was messing it up but I had to quickly put that to the back of my mind,” she recalled of the vital moment.

“I had to be really clear on what I was doing and in that highpressu­re situation the simpler the plan the better. So I decided to bowl two balls: a slower ball hitting the stumps then a full one hitting the stumps. And I knew if I nailed those two, it was all I could control.”

She did just that. Then, with her next delivery, the 25-year-old trapped Punam Raut with a picture-perfect change of pace for 86. The rest is history, Shrubsole going on to claim five wickets in 19 balls to secure a stunning comefrom-behind triumph in front of a suitably gobsmacked, and sold-out, Lord’s.

Her return of six for 46 was the best in a World Cup final and won her the player-of-the-match award. It also provided the perfect finale to a tournament the likes of which had never before been seen in the women’s game, helping to earn Shrubsole a nomination for the BT Action Woman of the Year.

“Given the profile of the whole tournament and being a sell-out at the home of cricket as an English person, to just be part of that occasion was amazing,” Shrubsole said, as she reflected on the month that changed women’s cricket forever. “It was surreal at the time and still is.”

Before the final, Shrubsole’s father, Ian, dug out a photo of her daughter watching him play at Lord’s for his club as a child.

The image came to symbolise just how far the game had evolved, while highlighti­ng the close-knit families that supported their girls when it was far less fashionabl­e and far from the profession­al pursuit it is today. “One of the best things about Lord’s was being able to share that moment and game with everyone’s family because they have played such a huge role,” Shrubsole added.

“It meant a huge amount to me.” Her winner’s medal now sits proudly in her parents’ home in Bath.

It is a theme central to the story of another member of the victorious England team nominated for the BT award, opener Tammy Beaumont.

Her key moment in the final was taking a clutch outfield catch to remove star batsman Harmanpree­t Kaur on 51. With 410 runs to her name across the midsummer journey, Beaumont was the obvious choice for player of the tournament. “When Anya got the final wicket and we just bundled each other in the middle there was such joy and such an outpouring of emotion,” Beaumont said of the moment Shrubsole hit the stumps to finish the job, leaning back with her arms spread in a pose that ended up over both front and back pages the next day. “It was a colosseum at Lord’s, erupting with noise as people screamed their hearts out. It will stick with me for ever.”

Shrubsole provided the winning moment in the thrilling semi-final too, sneaking England home with three balls to spare when lashing her first ball through cover for four. Once again, she kept it simple. It was Beaumont’s favourite memory of the tournament. “Sarah Taylor and I were hugging because we couldn’t watch given how nerve-racking it was,” she said.

Like Shrubsole, Beaumont found the game through her father, hectoring him into letting her play as a substitute when her brother’s team were short of players. Her internatio­nal career started in 2009 but stuttered along until 2016 when she finally broke through. Tuning in from America, her parents both cried when she made her maiden century. “And if you know my dad, he is not emotional whatsoever, so for him to cry was amazing,” she said.

Becoming a full-time profession­al did more for Beaumont than most of the England team. When a vacancy appeared at the top of England’s order, it enabled her to be better prepared than at any time during her stop-start career. Now, her World Cup accolades have led to her featuring as a member of Sky’s commentary team. Life is moving fast. She is also becoming accustomed to more boys and girls asking for a selfie or an autograph.

‘The final will stay with me for ever. Lord’s was a colosseum erupting with noise’

“I went to T20 Finals Day and a couple of people in the stand recognised me and I was in jeans and a top – it was crazy to be recognised at the bar,” she laughed. “But that was a bit embarrassi­ng so I decided I had to keep my head down.” For all the glory, none of England’s world champions underestim­ate the task they now have ahead of them, entering this week’s Women’s Ashes standalone Test Match in Sydney with a deficit in the multi-format series after the three one-day internatio­nals, which Australia won 3-1 to lead

4-2 overall.

“We lost that first World Cup game and we came back from that,” Beaumont said of the prevailing attitude in the camp, drawing on what they have achieved to find a way through here once more. “There was a belief and resilience to come back from setbacks.” Shrubsole repeats that word, resilience, when discussing the state of the contest with Australia. It is pivotal to a relentless­ly positive ethos that coach Mark Robinson has drilled into them.

Presented now with the chance to show it again, this pair of England’s standard-bearers do not require any added incentive to do just that.

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 ??  ?? Top of the world: England’s Tammy Beaumont (above left and right, batting) with her team-mate Anya Shrubsole
Top of the world: England’s Tammy Beaumont (above left and right, batting) with her team-mate Anya Shrubsole

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