ISLAMABAD: England women’s cricket team’s experienced batter Tammy Beaumont feels that a tournament like women’s super league will help Pakistan unearth the new talent and prepare players well for international assignments.
In an exclusive interview to Geo, the Englishwoman advised the young girls to overcome fear of failure and try playing new shots without any hesitation.
“I see a lot of young girls come in and they want to be perfect straightaway. And that means that they don't allow themselves to make mistakes and try to expand their game. A lot of girls wouldn't even play some shots because they're just maybe a little bit scared that It's not going to be perfect. I think, just try everything, be okay with making mistakes, just make sure you take those lessons and learn from them and move on and get better each time,” she said when asked what advise she would give to younger players.
The 32-year-old Tammy Beaumont has played 103 WODIs, 99 WT20Is and seven women Test matches for England. She is currently in Pakistan to play three exhibition matches on sidelines of PSL as soft launch of Pakistan’s own Women’s League.
The experienced cricketer said that having leagues are important for development of cricket and Pakistan’s league is a step in right direction.
“The countries that have had franchise leagues for quite a long time, their young players come into the national international stage and they're just ready to perform straightaway. They know what playing under pressure is like, they know their games and they know in a pressure situation what they're going to go to. I think that's really important, it's great to see that Pakistan are jumping on board as well,” she said.
“Even in England, we have an example of Alice Capsey who burst on the scene as a 16-year-old and now she's batting at number three in a World Cup and performing really well. I think it's really clear that franchise leagues can unearth talent that maybe hasn't gone through a normal pathway or worked its way up at the same time,” Beaumont added.
She highlighted that franchise leagues can also help girls opt for sports as career as they’ll have multiple opportunities to play and stay in contention.
“A few years ago, if a woman hadn't made their debut for their country, by the time they're probably 23, 24, they were never going to play for their country. They'd have to go away, get another career, and go and work. And, now the franchise leagues and other domestic structures mean that they stay in the game, and then maybe they have a golden season and that gets them in the team,” she said.
She also praised Pakistan’s new talent and hoped that players like Fatima Sana, Muneeba Ali, Ayessha Naseem can inspire the next generation to start playing cricket and try to emulate them.
She insisted on having homegrown superstars for promotion of the game in country.
“It's really important to have your kind of homegrown heroes. I think there's certainly a lot of really good talent coming through. You've had the likes of Bismah and Nida Dar for years now you've got so many good young players coming in and I just hope that these matches, a 6, 7 or 8-year-old girl be watching at home and go, I want to be like Fatima Sana or I want to be like my Muneeb Ali and pick up a bat or a ball for the first time and try and emulate them.
“These girls are just such great role models, they work so hard on and off the pitch and you can see it they're just desperate to learn,” the England cricketer said about new talent coming from Pakistan.
Replying to a question, Tammy Beaumont said that Fatima Sana needs to just add a little bit of consistency to her game.
When asked if women cricketers deserve equal wages as men cricketers, the England top-order batter said that she doesn’t think women cricketers should be getting equal pay as men at this stage but what they need more is equal opportunity and support.
“I don't think we should get equal wages, I think equal opportunity and equal support is the big one for me, that's always been what I've kind of been asking for. I think, at the moment, we don't bring in as much revenue. I think the money will come in but I do think a lot of people particularly at my age, like I love playing cricket so I still would you know, play to just be able to break even and, and just about live. For me, it's about making sure we all get the best coaches, the best facilities, the same amount of matches, you know, the same amount of advertising to get the fans in so we can eventually make the same amount of money. So, I think it's a kind of byproduct and then hopefully it will come eventually but right now my answer is no, I don't think we should get paid the same. But I think one day and one day soon that will happen,” she concluded.
Faizan Lakhani Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.