Tammy Beaumont praised the belief and “trust in everyone” within the England squad as they aim for more Ashes success on Sunday.
The hosts have staged an incredible turnaround in the competition, coming from 6-0 down to level the series after winning the opening ODI in Bristol on Wednesday.
England edged to a nail-biting two-wicket victory thanks to a fantastic unbeaten 75 from captain Heather Knight, who was helped across the line by seamer Kate Cross with an important cameo of 19 from 20 balls.
Beaumont also played her part, scoring 47 to help England reach a target of 264 – their highest successful run chase in the format – and the opener hailed the belief within the squad.
She told a press conference: “There’s such great trust in everyone at every situation, so for me at Bristol the other day, there was no doubt in my mind that Kate Cross could bat like that.
“I think her mum was surprised she could do that for England! Every single one of us on the sideline felt completely at ease, knowing Kate had the skills to do it, and the same again with Alice Capsey coming on to bowl such a crucial spell.
“Everybody just backs each other’s abilities, their decision-making, and everything in every situation.
“It’s a great feeling to have, and throughout, even though we didn’t get the results, we knew at times in the Test match we really competed and put them under pressure. It felt at times like things were swaying towards us, we just didn’t win those crucial moments.
“We had that belief that we certainly didn’t need to take a step back, we could just keep going and see what happens really.”
Australia had originally held the upper hand, having sealed victory in the only Test match of the series before winning the T20 opener at Edgbaston.
However, the tourists have now lost three consecutive games for the first time since 2017, after Knight’s side won the remaining T20 contests alongside Wednesday’s ODI match to level the series.
England’s men’s team have also put up their own fightback to keep their Ashes alive with a win at Headingley last week, and Beaumont praised the resilient attitude from both sides.
“I think it’s really important, and you’re seeing that with the men’s Ashes as well,” she said. “They’ve gone 2-0 down, but we don’t want to be pushovers any more, and I think that’s probably why this series has been so captivating to everyone.
“I’m a massive cricket badger, but I feel Ashes fever is everywhere for both the men and women, and it’s great to see. British culture’s always loved an underdog, so I think it’s helped that we’ve taken on such a great team in Australia. I personally love that feeling of trying to overcome a bit of difficulty.”
Attention turns to the second ODI at the Ageas Bowl on Sunday, and the stakes are still high, with Australia only needing to win one of the two remaining matches.
“At the moment we’re just focused on the next game, we’re taking it one game at a time,” Beaumont added. “We’re in a great position at the moment, I feel like we’ve got some good momentum and we’re playing some good cricket. We’ll see what happens on Sunday and go from there.”
PA
