26 March - Wellington - England player Tammy Beaumont pre-match press conference

Reporter: Tammy do you expect any changes in the side to potentially keep guys fresh for semifinals. Would you expect a similar team to the one which has played all the games so far?

Tammy: Yeah, tough one for me to answer, obviously I’m not on the selection panel, but I don't think we're fully qualified in the semifinal yet, so we're obviously going to have to play a very strong team going into tomorrow. I think it'll be dependent on the wicket. I think there was a little bit of spin yesterday in the Bangladesh-Australia game, so that might dictate a little bit but yeah, for me, I'm not too sure who the team will be but I think we're going to have to pick our really strong 11 to make sure we secure that semifinal spot.

Reporter: How important is it to keep the momentum after the victory against Pakistan?

Tammy: Yeah, it's incredibly important to keep building that momentum. Like I said, we're not secured in the semifinals. Yes, we definitely have to go out and have a good performance and make sure we get that win on the board. And yeah, Todd McCray is all about kind of building that momentum to get into finals and then once you there just kind of maintaining it and getting on those winning performances. So yeah, massively important games.

Reporter: Have you been surprised about the way Bangladesh have performed at this World Cup?

Tammy: I wouldn't say surprised as such. I think we played them a couple of years ago in the T20 World Cup and they showed their skills there and I think they've just gone to a new level. So, it's been great to see how competitive the Bangladesh team has been throughout this World Cup to get that win against Pakistan. I wasn't too surprised. And yeah, it's just great to see that they're really taking it to teams and showing what they can do. And hopefully, it'll be a good game tomorrow, but we'll come out on the winning side.

Reporter: Obviously, Bangladesh, played against Australia yesterday and kind of impressed - Who do you see as the biggest threat in the Bangladesh team?

Tammy: Yeah, for me, I think a lot of their bowlers are definitely threats. Salma Khatun bowling in the powerplay and throughout, I think is a real key bowler for them. So we're definitely trying to nullify the threat of her and on the spinners as well.

Reporter: Should Bangladesh be playing against the likes of England more regularly?

Tammy: Yeah, they definitely should be playing against the light sides more regularly. And I think in the new cycle for the next ODI World Cup we will be playing against them more and I think it's only good for women's cricket. If more and more teams are playing against the top teams and improving, I think you've seen that, a lot more close games are happening this World Cup no matter who you are, and yeah, the likes of Bangladesh have really contributed to that. So for me, I'd love to be playing against them more.

Reporter: Just to follow up on one of the previous questions, how much of that Australia Bangladesh game did you watch and what did you take from it? What kind of challenges do you think Bangladesh will pose you tomorrow?

Tammy: Yeah, we didn't get to watch all of it. We were on a very windy descent into Wellington on a plane at the time, but yeah, once we arrived we did watch a little bit of it and obviously they've got a few early wickets against Australia. So yeah, it's going to be really key to start working against them tomorrow. I think. Obviously don't bowl with that much pace and they've got a lot of spinners. So that's going to be a challenge having to work with and particularly here at Wellington. It looks like it's going to be really windy one way hitting into the wind. So, we have to be very smart with that. I think they're obviously just very controlled, very disciplined, pretty good in the field. So, it's got to put them under pressure for a long period of time and hope that we catch up at the back end.

Reporter: And just speaking of the wind, I mean a lot has been said about how the bowlers kind of have to adapt to it and adjust to it - as a batting group what kind of challenges does the wind pose especially considering how strong it is in Wellington?

Tammy: Yeah, so far here It's been kind of - sort of through the crease, so like from one side screen to the other - so as a batter that's actually not the worst thing. For me. I find when it's kind of coming across the wicket it kind of pushes you over at one end and really challenges your balance and me as someone who gets out LBW for fun anyway - makes it a lot more difficult if you've got to keep your balance. But yeah, I think you have to be talking about things like if you're going to hit the ball in the air, it has to be more into, with the wind so that you can hit it longer. It's a bit silly trying to take on a spinner kind of hitting into the wind and trying to get it up and over and the ball kind of almost coming back to the fielder. So you've got to be smart and kind of where you choose to hit the ball in the air and when you choose hit it on the floor.

Reporter: Do you feel like as a squad, you've kind of found your rhythm and you're peaking at the right time considering both now - Katherine's in the wickets, Danny has found some runs, Do you feel like you're probably peaking at the right time?

Tammy: Yeah, I think so. I think we obviously started a little bit slow in the comp. But yeah, our bowlers are certainly peaking at the right time. Katherine Brunt looked in really good rhythm last game, Kate Cross throughout has been brilliant Sophie Ecclestone and everyone's kind of chipping in where they can and yeah with the batting, I guess we haven't had that solid opening partnership yet. We haven't got past sort of 31 I think so yeah, it was good to see Danny go on and get some good runs last game. And yeah, there's been contributions throughout. I do feel like we're starting to get there and play our best cricket as we come into the back end of this tournament.

Reporter: And just finally, you've been on the road for a really long time now, so how is everyone coping physically with the travel, the workloads - how the body is feeling, especially in the fast bowling group?

Tammy: Yeah, I'm not going to lie. It's been tough, it’s been a very long time away from home. And even before that, there was all sorts of rules and regulations around COVID protocols and stuff. So yeah, this is the longest I've kind of been on tour with England. And yeah, when you're in a hotel room for three days, and then you got to pack up and go again. It gets a little bit tiresome, but that's kind of what we've signed up for. And we've just got to get on with it. And just try and make sure that we're taking over and in training and doing what you need to do, but then making sure we can get as much downtime and time to switch off as we can. So yes, it's been tough, but , it's one week to go or one and a half weeks to go and it could be really good if we take a trophy home with us and it will be worth it.

Reporter: Just wanted to know your thoughts on Charlie Dean. She's the youngest member of the squad, and she has been bowling well. Also if she would be in the plans for the next game?

Tammy: Yeah, Charlie Dean has been such an excellent addition to the squad ever since she made a debut against New Zealand in our summer. I think she's taking wickets regularly. She's really attacking as an off spinner- gets a lot of wickets and has been really key to our success recently. So it's been great to see obviously, like I said earlier, I'm not involved in selection, but I would guess they'll definitely be talking about whether she's going to be in the team or not, and she'll definitely be a name to talk about if they think their wicket is going to spin so yeah, I think it'd be interesting to see the 11 tomorrow.

Reporter: What are your views on the competition in this tournament? I think alluding to the closeness tightness of So many matches. What does that mean for women's cricket?

Tammy: Yeah, I think it's been a brilliant tournament. I think we've seen so many close games, quite a few upsets involving us most of the time, but no, I think it's been brilliant for women's cricket. I think the last thing anyone wants is a very predictable World Cup where you can very much tell what every result is going to be and games end up being quite boring by the end of it because one team's winning by 100 runs and I think it's just great to see that the standards gone up and gone through the roof of every country and not just kind of the ones that are getting massive financial backing from their boards. It's great to see Bangladesh coming in and performing at their first World Cup, Pakistan getting their first win in 13 years. I think it is and the likes of West Indies when they're strong. I think it's really good for women's cricket. So yeah, it's great to see and hopefully it'll continue and even in three - four years’ time at the next World Cup, it'll be even better.

Reporter: You’re the leading run getter, at the 2017 ODI World Cup, looking back on that edition of the tournament and how competitive the ongoing edition has been. What in your view has been the biggest improvement across the board in terms of bowling and fielding at this World Cup?

Tammy: Well, I probably just have to go through the highlights reels of all the specky captures that there's been in this World Cup. I think the athleticism has gone through the roof again. And yeah, each team is saving runs in the field kind of week in week out and it's really costly if you just drop that one player once. So yeah, I think the fielding standards just risen so high and bowling wise I think everyone's - there's no longer kind of someone just doing one skill everyone - People who out swing, you've also got one that comes back in or you've got a bouncer or Yorker and yeah, everyone's just a lot more skilled than four years ago and about five years ago, and I do think the standard was pretty high in 2017. But I certainly think that bowlers are like more adaptable now, they seem to be doing their homework, their analysis and then taking that into games and changing their plans and not just sticking to kind of one plan all the time, which is great to see.

Reporter: You alluded to it briefly - your form and how you kind of haven't probably scored the runs that you would have wanted to. Are you at all kind of worried about how things are going for you and how are you keeping yourself upbeat? And I suppose focused on through the competition considering how quickly the games are rolling around?

Tammy: I don't really feel like I'm out of form or anything. I think it was only a few games ago I scored 50 against South Africa. So, I think when the games come thick and fast you're never far away from a good performance. So yeah, like I felt pretty good in some of the games and got some good balls. So yeah, for me, I'm not too worried. I think looking back at 2017 I think the first three four games I've not got above 30. Things do change very quickly. For me to then have gone on and been playing the tournament in that World Cup. So yeah, for me, I don't stress too much about it. I know we've got a lot of history of scoring runs at the top of the order. So yeah, for me, it's all just about the next ball, the next game.