Beaumont looking forward to Englandís tour of India

Kent wicketkeeper Tammy Beaumont (pictured) says she is looking forward to next year“s tour of India. The 18 year-old, who is a member of the Kent Academy, has been named in a 15-strong squad to tour India from February 15 to March 9 2010.

Led by Kent“s Charlotte Edwards, the squad will play five One Day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches.

Beaumont, who is a student at Loughborough University, clearly cannot wait for the action to begin. She said: “It will be a different challenge for us (than the tour to the West Indies). We are preparing well and taking lots of supplements because we are mindful of getting the dreaded Delhi belly! Cricket is tough, both on and off the pitch, in India; we are fully aware of that.”

Tours to the sub-continent are viewed by many as the most difficult for international players to have to undertake. Beaumont agrees with those comments: “It will be my first tour to India and it will be nice to see the set-up and get to see parts of the country. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of going to the West Indies. It was good to get a tour under my belt and I now have a better idea of what is needed at international level. There are things I will continue to work on but overall I“ve been fairly pleased with my contribution so far.

“At first it was a bit surreal to be going into the best team in the world. I felt a bit of an outsider but everyone made me feel a real part of it and I would like to thank my team-mates for that. It helped to have Charlotte and Lydia Greenway there. Both are key players and good friends. I look to them for a bit of guidance, from time to time, and they are always happy to help.”

The England squad will leave at the start of February and Beaumont is expecting a busy time between now and then: “It promises to be a tough time for us all! We have a weekend up at Loughborough coming up. We will endure the dreaded bleep test training at Edgbaston and then I will go back to Loughborough and just look to get as fit as possible.

“I“m enjoying my time at University. It is great fun but at times it feels like it“s a cricket degree! It is fairly intense but I“m having a decent time and enjoying working hard.”

Kent go into the 2010 season as the reigning LV= County Champions and Beaumont is hoping that they can successfully defend their crown: “We got our timetable through recently and we start quite soon into the New Year. We have some pre-season matches in April and then get going with the real stuff soon after. I“m looking forward to the season, as we have a strong squad, and I“m confident that we can play some further good cricket and retain our championship trophy.”