Tammy Beaumont was proud to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement as England Women took to the field for the first time in almost seven months, having confronted her own feelings of "white privilege".
Beaumont scored a match-winning 62 during the first Twenty20 against the West Indies on Monday and was in the middle with fellow opener Danni Wyatt when both sides dropped to take a knee before a ball was bowled at Derby.
England men's joined their West Indian and Irish counterparts in the gesture earlier in the season, sparked by global protests about the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota in May, but the practice was subsequently dropped for games against Pakistan and Australia.
England and the West Indies take a knee at Derby as women's international cricket returns pic.twitter.com/EP0cSGfnqn — Rory Dollard (@thervd) September 21, 2020
The squads led by Heather Knight and Deandra Dottin were unanimous in agreeing to have their own say and will continue to take a knee throughout the five-match series, as well as wearing the BLM logo on their playing shirts.
"We really wanted to do something. Obviously, a lot has already been done within cricket at the beginning of the summer but this was our first game and we really wanted to make a stand and it was a really powerful moment, I think," said Beaumont.
Like she's never been away 👍 #WomensCricketMonth #EngvWI pic.twitter.com/uFjFxLKzvu — England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 21, 2020
"It's really important for anyone with any kind of platform to really stand up for what matters, and certainly for me, I feel like I've personally been educated since what happened in America.
"It has really opened my eyes to some of the white privilege that I get every day. For me, it is really
important that we address this issue and really stand together."
The second T20 takes place at the Incora County Ground on Wednesday, with England looking to build on their 47-run win.
