SJA members can vote now to decide the winners of three major categories at the Awards, to be held at The Kia Oval in London on Thursday 7 December; Jake Wightman, Beth Mead and the Lionesses claimed the equivalent 2022 honours; who will take the top prizes this year? Voting deadline is 15 November…
By Drew Murphy
Betty Snowball held the record for the highest score ever by an English woman, scoring 189 in a Test Match against New Zealand in 1935.
That was until 32,270 days later, in an Ashes Test at Trent Bridge, when Tammy Beaumont overtook Snowball’s long-standing record and became the first English woman to score a double hundred.
Beaumont also became only the eighth player to make a double hundred in a women’s Test, and her epic 208 is the fifth-highest score in women’s Tests.
Speaking to Sky after her record-breaking knock, she said: “I worked hard and changed my mindset to being as positive as possible and get back to the Tammy Beaumont of a couple years ago.”
Her 137-run partnership with all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt in the same innings was the sixth-highest partnership for the third wicket in women’s cricket history and the highest in the last decade.
Beaumont continued to break records as she became the first woman to score a century in the Hundred and scored the highest score in tournament history with 118 from just 61 balls, surpassing Will Jacks’ 108.
After the game she told Sky: “I don’t know what’s just happened, to be honest! I just had an absolute day out, and it’s great to put on a show for the fans.”
That amazing knock meant she has scored centuries in four different formats.
Overall, she had an outstanding tournament, finishing as the second-leading run scorer, just five runs behind Southern Braves’ Danni Wyatt.
Captaining the Welsh Fire, Beaumont led them to the Eliminator, but the game was abandoned, and the Northern Superchargers progressed.
Beaumont was in at the crease when the match was abandoned, and had that not been the case could have also added the highest run scorer to her accolades won in 2023.
Beaumont was voted the winner of the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) Player of the Year award for the second time, seven years after her previous win.
But her 2023 isn’t over yet, as Beaumont is set to head to India, where England will look to end the year with a bang.
Sports journalist Drew Murphy is a member of the SJA Academy – find out more about membership here.