Claire Taylor

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Claire Taylor bigraphy, stories - Cricketer

Claire Taylor : biography

25 September 1975 –

Samantha Claire Taylor MBE (born 25 September 1975) is a former cricketer who represented England more than 150 times between 1998 and 2011. A top order batsman,In women’s cricket, "batsman" is commonly used, alongside "batter". Taylor is the only woman to have been named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. Along with Charlotte Edwards, she was the mainstay of England’s batting during the first decade of the 21st century, and played a key role in the team’s two world titles in 2009.

Taylor did not play cricket until the age of 13, but four years later made her county debut. Initially considered a wicket-keeper with limited batting ability, Taylor struggled to break into the England team. She made her international debut in 1998, and within two years was a regular in the team. After an unsuccessful World Cup in 2000, Taylor left her job to become a full-time cricketer. Over the subsequent five years, she developed into one of the leading batsmen in women’s cricket, but after another failure in the 2005 World Cup she resumed her career alongside cricket.

Despite her struggles at the World Cup, Taylor continued to improve as a batsman, and in 2006, she scored 156 not out, the highest individual total in an ODI at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Her batting successes resulted in her being short-listed for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in 2007 and 2008, and she won the award in 2009. After being the leading run-scorer in the 2009 World Cup, and player of the tournament in the World Twenty20 later that year, she was less consistent from 2010, though she performed well in the pair of quadrangular tournaments played in England during her final summer of cricket, and completed her career with batting averages in excess of 40 in both Test and ODI cricket.

Playing style

During her teenage years, Taylor was considered a better hockey player than cricketer. When she began playing for Thames Valley, she was considered a wicket-keeper with no more than average batting ability. At university, she began to develop her batting, playing alongside the men for her college side. The different pace and strength required in the men’s game meant that she had to learn to play off the back foot, in contrast to women’s cricket, which is generally played off the front foot. After graduating from university in 1997, she made her international debut for England in 1998, but batted low in the order for England, having being picked as a wicket-keeper. Intent on improving her batting, she began one-on-one coaching with Mark Lane. At the time, it was unusual for a member of the England women’s team to have individual coaching sessions, and Taylor had to pay for the meetings herself. When they began working together, Lane was critical of her batting; "She was just average, I would say." The sessions helped to improve Taylor’s mental approach towards batting as well as making technical changes, though Lane promoted the use of bottom-handed hockey-style shots which came more naturally to Taylor. At her peak, she used her intelligence to help manipulate the field; in an interview she described that, "when I’m batting at my best I have a 3D awareness of the shape of the field and where the spaces are."

Notes

Biography

Early life and career

Samantha Claire Taylor was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire on 25 September 1975, as part of a sporting family: her father played rugby, and her mother played hockey. She attended Dolphin School in Hurst, Berkshire, where she initially played softball, participating as the only girl in the school team. Taylor did not play cricket until a summer camp at the age of 13,Berry (2009), pp. 74–75. but thereafter improved to such a level that she captained the Dolphin School cricket team, playing alongside the boys. She subsequently moved to The Abbey School, Reading for a short time, and finally Kendrick School. Although she primarily played hockey as a teenager, at which she represented England at Under-17 and Under-19 as a forward, she began playing women’s county cricket for Thames Valley, making her debut for the side in May 1993.