Fifth ODI:
England 347-5;
New Zealand 144Beaumont’s eighth ODI century draws standing ovationThe England and Wales
Cricket Board may have had a troubled relationship with women’s county cricket in recent years – the Women’s County Championship was abolished in 2019 and the future of the County T20 Cup is uncertain – but Kent remain rightly proud of their women’s team. Before play in the fifth England v New Zealand one-day international on Sunday, they presented four of their most distinguished servants with county caps.
One of that number was Tammy Beaumont, who has represented the county for 14 years and began the summer by declaring that she was “desperate to play” county cricket again. Unfortunately, the lack of Covid-19 biosecurity surrounding women’s county cricket – which is officially classed as “recreational” – put paid to that ambition.