England wasting Tammy Beaumont's talents down the order, says Lydia Greenway

Of England’s seven games since arriving in Australia, only against Sri Lanka – when Sciver was absent through injury – has Beaumont batted in the top five

• Women's T20 World Cup Hub

England are in danger of wasting the talents of Tammy Beaumont at the T20 World Cup, believes former batsman Lydia Greenway.

Having spent much of her international career in the top three – she has a T20I century against South Africa to her name, the 2017 World Cup winner has been pushed into an unfamiliar role in the lower middle order since the arrival of Lisa Keightley as head coach.

Carded to come to the crease at No.6 in England’s opening game defeat against Dane van Niekerk’s Proteas, she eventually strode out at No.7, with Katherine Brunt promoted ahead of her as England sought late runs to give themselves a competitive total after a poor start.

Beaumont faced just six balls; there were 14 remaining when she replaced Brunt in the middle. And Greenway, who was a member of the side that won the inaugural World T20 in 2009, believes England must contemplate a reshuffle in order to bring Beaumont to the fore.

“There are critical moments in the game that need to be finished using those six, seven and eight roles but I think with Tammy Beaumont more so than Lauren Winfield, my sense is that she is potentially being wasted,” she told Sky Sports.

“She either has to be opening, which she's not going to do because Amy Jones and Danni Wyatt have taken those spots, so, for me, No.3 is the spot for Tammy Beaumont. Then you have Heather Knight and Nat Sciver.

“They're the players in the best form but also the best players of spin and we know that in the women's game, spin bowling is crucial. We saw against India that that was Australia's downfall because they couldn't manage to play Poonam Yadav effectively.

“Tammy Beaumont has to be facing more balls, statistically players coming in at seven, eight or nine will be facing seven balls as a maximum so to have her coming in that low down is a wasted position for me.”

Of England’s seven games since arriving in Australia, only against Sri Lanka – when Sciver was absent through injury – has Beaumont batted in the top five. She and Lauren Winfield - England's opening pair in their World Cup-winning campaign three years ago - came together in the 19th over of their innings in Sunday's loss.

“Perhaps a bit of rethinking for England to do and it will be interesting to see if they react and make a change so quickly or if Lisa Keightley wants to stick with it,” Greenway added.