Christchurch, Mar 2 (IANS): England opener Tammy Beaumont is targeting to play a part in back-to-back ICC Women's Cricket World Cup titles and believes that her team don't have the pressure of being the defending champions.
Despite being the reigning champions, England are far from favourites to reclaim the title as they recently lost 12-4 in women's Ashes to Australia, including a 3-0 clean sweep in the ODI leg of the series.
"I've not really thought too much recently about the tag of being the holders, but someone mentioned it to me a few days ago. It's difficult to say it's a label we carry with us because I'm not sure I've even seen the trophy for a couple of years! So, that probably means it's at the back of our minds - and to an extent, some people have probably written us off already," wrote Tammy in her column for The Cricketer on Wednesday.
"I think there should be quite a lot of pressure on us as defending champions, but at the moment I don't really feel that way. It will be interesting to see in the next few days how that gets ramped up. That's the motivation though: go back-to-back, win it again and keep it on home soil," added Tammy, who was player of the tournament in the 2017 World Cup win.
Talking about what she is eagerly looking forward to in the tournament, Tammy feels it will be about facing oppositions whom England don't play often. "For one, there are teams that we hardly ever play - I think I've only come up against Bangladesh in T20 World Cups, so that will be a nice challenge. We play a fair bit of cricket against Australia, India and New Zealand, so it will be cool to see some new faces for a change. I'm expecting for this tournament to show how far some of these nations have come, and I'm predicting a couple of upsets."
Tammy then pointed out that the top teams in the tournament can't afford to have a slip-up. "The number of sixes, hundreds and five-wicket hauls - I'm expecting great things. South Africa had an excellent series win in India last year, and they'll be strong. New Zealand have also just played really well against India, so they're in form too.
"Australia, too, obviously. Pakistan have got some match-winners as well in their batting and they surprised New Zealand in their first warm-up. If the top teams aren't at their best on the day, they'll be made to pay."
Tammy expects England to put up a better show against Australia when the two teams kick-start their World Cup campaign in a marquee clash on March 5 at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
"We certainly weren't at our best during the ODIs in Australia, so that applies to us too. That really wasn't a reflection of how we want to play our cricket - I think our bowlers did show that, but it wasn't backed up with the bat. We've managed to get some space from the Ashes, and I think we've been able to split them as two completely separate entities. A World Cup is a totally different thing to an Ashes series."