Former English women’s cricketer Sarah Taylor joined the county cricket club Sussex’s coaching staff for the upcoming season on March 16. Sarah will be focussing on working with the club’s wicketkeepers. Pleased with the appointment, Sarah said she wants to share her experience and expertise with the team and help them get the most of their game.
In her 13-year international career, the flamboyant keeper earned 226 England caps and has the most wicketkeeping dismissals, 227, in the history of women’s international cricket. She backed up her feats behind the stumps with over 7,000 international runs.
Considered one of the most naturally-gifted players, Sarah created a niche for herself in 2006 with a run-a-ball 61 in her fourth ODI against India and a maiden century followed early the next year against Australia in Chennai. And after that, it was no stopping her.
She has also been a part of the England squad that won the World Cup and World T20 double in 2009. Quicker than the speed of light, Sarah has been a beast behind the wickets. According to ESPNCricinfo, Sarah kept out Brighton College’s male keeper in for a spot in their first team and there was much interest in 2013.
Sarah made her One-day International debut against India on August 5, 2006, while she played her last against the West Indies on June 21, 2019.
In the 126 ODIs that she played, Sarah scored 4,056 runs with an average of 38.26 and a healthy strike rate of 82.32. She has seven hundred and 20 half-centuries to her name, with the highest ODI score being 147.
“Sussex Cricket is delighted to announce the addition of Sarah Taylor and Ashley Wright to its coaching staff for the forthcoming season,” Sussex Cricket said in a statement.
In 90 T20Is, the right-handed batter scored 2,177 runs at a strike rate of 110.67 and an average of 29.02. Even though she doesn’t have a century, she has 16 half-centuries, with the highest score being 77.
After her appointment, Sarah, in a statement, said: “I’m really pleased about working with the club’s wicketkeepers. From Ben Brown and Phil Salt in the professional squad and down through the pathway, we have a really talented group of keepers at Sussex who I am looking forward to working with immensely.”
“I want to share my experience and expertise to help them get the most out of their game. I’m a big believer in keeping things simple and perfecting the basics so that players can enjoy and express themselves with the gloves,” she further added.
Sarah, who was coaching at a school in Eastbourne since her early retirement due to anxiety, will continue coaching the students at the school.