Tammy Beaumont Column: I hugely respect Sarah Glenn's decision to opt out

TAMMY BEAUMONT: When the squad was announced, it was expected that the travelling reserves wouldn't be allowed to be with the team on gamedays. They would be allowed to train with us, but it sounded like quite a separate, lonely role

I remember going into my first quarantine nearly two years ago, when I was unsure what to expect. I actually coped quite well – it was two weeks in Australia for the Women's Big Bash and I didn't even get a hotel room key.

This time around, we knew we wouldn't have any training exemption. We just had a spin bike in our room, and that was that. It was the most difficult of these isolation periods so far, even though it got shortened from 10 to seven days while we were locked in. I don't know how to describe it without swearing, to be honest!

I found it tough – yes, we probably wanted a bit of downtime after the Ashes, but it's not nice to get locked in a room with your thoughts, knowing that you're just going to be stewing for a week before being able to do anything about it. We tried to stay united with things like quizzes, HIIT classes and crosswords, but I don't think anyone in cricket is going to be sad when quarantine is a thing of the past.

That's why it was such a relief when the restrictions were ever-so-slightly eased – there were certainly celebrations on the team WhatsApp group when we knew our quarantine would be lessened by three days, and it meant we could stop running in masks in the courtyard, which was a not a nice experience.

We will be restricted throughout the World Cup. There are still protocols in place, unlike back in the UK, and it's difficult playing with the threat of Covid in the backdrop but we have a job to do as a team and the more energy we use focusing on Covid the less we'll have to think about scoring runs and taking wickets. We are through our quarantine now and we can look ahead to cricket with positivity.

Of course, the ICC made their announcement on Thursday that teams could potentially play with as few as nine players if camps are hit by the pandemic, and we did joke when we were in Australia that we could call up one of our partners or kids if needs be. Someone suggested we get the doctor's three-year-old in because she might be better than one of the support staff! I think we'd probably try for one of the commentators who used to play for England – Lydia Greenway might get the call ahead of Alex Hartley. There's Isa Guha as well. We've been discussing whether Lisa Keightley could play for us as an Australian.

^{Beaumont was the player of the tournament when England won the World Cup in 2017 (Stu Forster/Getty Images)}

As much as all that's in jest and unlikely, I think this has really put a different edge on the World Cup. For me, this is my third time at the 50-over tournament, along with the T20 World Cups. There's normally such a buzz and an excitement in the build-up from months out. Here, though, I've only felt that this week.

Everything you go through with quarantine means that it takes you a few days once you're out to even just get acclimatised to being allowed in the open air again and not be stuck in your room. Now that we're in Christchurch, this is the first time I'm actively looking forward to this competition. A few days ago, I was probably still quite grouchy about all the protocols that are being forced onto us.

Obviously, Sarah Glenn isn't with us, having opted out – a really understandable decision and an option that was put to all of us. With her situation, she was picked as a travelling reserve, and I have to say that I fully admire anyone who's come in that role. When the squad was announced, it was expected that the travelling reserves wouldn't be allowed to be with the team on gamedays. They would be allowed to train with us but not be able to sit with us during matches, so it sounded like quite a separate, lonely role.

So, I hugely respect Glenny's call to not go through quarantine and the Covid protocols knowing she was unlikely to play. It's not a holiday – you'd still be in the bubble, but then not part of the team. Luckily, I think that has changed since we arrived – so Lauren and Mady will be more part of our squad on matchdays, which is right – but when we had to make our decisions that was the information we had. Faced with the same scenario, I think I'd probably not have come either.

I hope to play at the next World Cup as well, but I'm nearly 31 and World Cups don't come around too often. So, while this perhaps isn't the ideal experience, I think there's still a chance to have a lot of fun and I could never have turned it down. I remember when we toured Bangladesh in 2014 and couldn't leave the hotel – we had Xboxes and FIFA tournaments, so we'll make sure to make the most of it.

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.

^{Beaumont in action for England against Bangladesh in a warmup match (Sanka Vidanagama/AFP via Getty Images)}

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.

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.

It's different in a World Cup – Heather has been reminding us of the obstacles we faced in 2017. We look back now with rose-tinted spectacles because of how it ended, but you forget that we lost the first game, we struggled through in a couple of others, a few of the girls weren't in great form and we had some big injuries.

The result makes it look like everything was perfect, but funny things happen. Amy Jones, Tash Farrant and Kate Cross were in the crowd for the last final, and arguably Crossy's now the world's in-form seamer. We've come a long way since then, even though we were champions.

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. 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.