Tammy Beaumont’s 208 makes history before Australia reassert strength

Only Test, day 2: Australia 473 & 82-0; England 463Opener sets England record but tourists build on narrow lead

As a shot, it was a fairly innocuous cut for four through backward point – nothing like the best one Tammy Beaumont played in her innings of 208. As a moment, on the other hand, it will go down in history. It took her to 192, surpassing the previous highest individual score by an Englishwoman in a Test – Betty Snowball’s 189, struck against New Zealand in February 1935. The record had stood for 32,270 days.

Six overs later Beaumont passed another milestone, becoming only the eighth player to make a double-hundred in a women’s Test – and received her second standing ovation within the space of an hour. Only after Tahlia McGrath, who finished with three for 24, had worked her way through the England tail with the swinging ball did she finally get reckless, bowled by Ash Gardner heaving across the line: the last England wicket to fall in a first-innings total of 463 that left them trailing Australia by just 10 runs.

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