Bold and beautiful- Sarah Taylor

Wicket keepers are the backbone of any team. With their positioning, they have the ability to influence the game to a great extent. It is a special skill and the entire team heavily relies of them. Now, whenever we talk about quality wicket keepers, Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni naturally come to our mind. But today let’s talk about the greatest female wicket keeper, who was known for her sharp stumpings and quality batting- Sarah Taylor

Early life and Domestic Cricket 

Taylor was Born on 20 May, 1989 in London, England. Cricket was in her veins as she picked the bat quite early and chose this as her career option. She played domestic cricket representing Sussex. Due to her smooth technique behind the stumps, she couldn’t get snubbed. Eventually, she got picked for the national side too. In total, she played 226 matches for the British country and scored some decent 6,533 across all formats. 

Sarah Taylor’s international career

Taylor became the first cricketer in both male and female categories, to earn first cap in all three formats in the shortest time span, that is nine days against India in 2006. Firstly, she made her T20 debut on 5 August, 2006. Then after 3 days, she made her Test debut on 8 August, 2006. Later, on 14 August 2006, she made her ODI

On 1 Sept, 2008, she became the youngest woman cricketer to score 1000 runs in ODI. Next year , In 2009, she scored 120 runs in an ODI match and broke the record of Enid Bakewell’s for scoring highest runs against Australia by any englishwoman. She also holds the record for highest stand in WODI with a first wicket partnership of 268 with Caroline Atkins at Lord’s against South Africa.  In 2015, she became first woman to play men’s grade cricket in Australia, where she appeared as wicketkeeper for Northern Districts against Port Adelaide in South Australia’s premier men’s competition.She was the first woman player to play in Darton first XI as well.

She and Tammy Beaumont set the record for highest 2nd wicket partnership in women’s cricket world cup history. They scored 275 runs and Taylor made a contribution of 147, which was her career

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She had a glorious journey playing for England and was a key member in their squad. Apart from her exceptional keeping, her batting too was effective. She used to open in limited overs and come down the order in the longest format. However, every road has highs and lows, and Sarah's journey was no different. In 2016 she took a break from the sport due to anxiety and later resumed playing in June 2017. Then, in July 2019, she withdrew her name from the national team due to mental health and later in that year,  in September, she parted ways as she took an early retirement at the age of 30. 

She played her Last test 18 July, 2019 v Australia, Last ODI 7 July, 2009 v Australia and Last T20I 21 June, 2019 v West Indies. 

Sarah Taylor’s international stats

Post retirement coaching career 

Presently, Taylor is 35 and is associated with various teams as their coach. In 2021, she was appointed as the first female wicket keeping specialist coach for senior Sussex’s men’s county team. In the same year, she was also appointed as assistant coach of Team Abu Dhabi . Later, In 2022, she was announced as assistant coach at Manchester Originals for The Hundred, she was working with both men’s and women’s teams there.

Awards and achievements 

Sarah has been regarded with ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the year on a couple of occasions, that is, in 2012 and 2013. She was ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the year 2014 as well. In 2020, she was nominated for the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award for ICC Female Cricketer of the decade too.She was the first woman to be inducted in Legends Lane at County Cricket Ground in Hove. 

Taylor was a key member in the squad that won 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Sarah Taylor in Big Bash League

Taylor featured in Women’s Big Bash League in only one season as she represented Adelaide Strikers in 2015/16 season. She had a fine season as she scored 393 runs in 14 outings. Plus, she was very handy with her wicket keeping skills as that always gave the team needed confidence.