Sarah Taylor,
the England wicketkeeper, has revealed that she is in talks to play
men's second XI county cricket this summer in what would be a
groundbreaking move for women's sport.
Taylor, widely regarded as one of the best female cricketers in history, has an informal agreement with the coaching staff at Sussex that if their second team needs a wicketkeeper at short notice this year, she will be selected to play.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the 23-year-old keeper and No3 batter said the prospect is "phenomenal" if "daunting". Taylor also conceded that her task would be as much a psychological challenge as a physical test.
"Part of me knows it would be phenomenal," Taylor said. "But there's part of me doubting myself. I've just got to start believing in myself a little bit more. But I would love to do it. It would be such a challenge – facing a bigger ball and bigger bowlers [the ball used in women's cricket is slightly smaller in circumference and weighs a little less]. But I'd have to look at myself after the second XI games and say: 'Can you handle this?'
Taylor, who leaves for India on Thursday with the England women's team, as they prepare to defend the 50-over World Cup they won in 2009, is being championed to make the switch to the men's game by Mark Lane, the national women's coach.
England's wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor will be heading off with the
team to defend the 50-over World Cup in India on Thursday. Photograph:
Andy Hall for the Guardian
"Mark is looking at me getting some games with the second XI at
Sussex and that will be just phenomenal cricket," said Taylor. "The plan
is also for me to play some early season games for the MCC boys. Mark
is trying to get me a lot of men's cricket which can only help my game.
"It's just a case of here could be an opportunity for me. Someone at Sussex approached Mark and asked if there was anyone who could keep [wicket] and Laney, being Laney, was quick to back me. It's daunting but it's brilliant that he backs me to do it in men's cricket. The MCC also approached him about me playing for them.
"I was almost offered a chance to play for the MCC boys against a county cricket first team – Sussex – in a Twenty20 game. But it would have to be in the longer form because the shorter game needs more power. So, yeah, you'll have to keep an eye out and see how I go against the men."
The ECB has stressed that no exact dates have been set for Taylor to play second XI county cricket and that discussions between Lane and Sussex have been "informal". She will, initially, play a high standard of men's club cricket. "I've moved to Walmley cricket club and I'll play for them [in the Birmingham and District Premier League]. I've been playing six years for England and I'm still only 23. I've still got so much to look forward to, especially in men's cricket. But I need to see how well I go in club cricket first."
'Part of me knows it would be phenomenal,' says Taylor. Photograph: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP
Taylor played cricket in her school's first team, Brighton College.
"In my first couple of years you felt like you were proving yourself in
every game. But I was lucky my best mate was captain and he was
brilliant. If anyone messed with me he was my saviour. Brighton College
is a strong cricket school in the A league. So they knew I warranted it
on merit."
Taylor told the Guardian that she briefly became disillusioned with cricket in 2010 when, at the age of 21, she walked away from the game and moved to New Zealand. "There were lots of personal reasons and I'd also hit a point where I'd won everything that England could possibly win. In 2009 we won the World Cup, the Twenty20 and retained the Ashes. I thought: 'What else is there for me?' I went to Wellington to get away from cricket. I'd almost hit a wall."
Taylor has returned with renewed ambition. Apart from continuing to dazzle in the women's game, she now has the chance to overcome some old prejudices – and, potentially, to establish herself as a pioneer should she eventually play men's first-class cricket.
Taylor, widely regarded as one of the best female cricketers in history, has an informal agreement with the coaching staff at Sussex that if their second team needs a wicketkeeper at short notice this year, she will be selected to play.
In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the 23-year-old keeper and No3 batter said the prospect is "phenomenal" if "daunting". Taylor also conceded that her task would be as much a psychological challenge as a physical test.
"Part of me knows it would be phenomenal," Taylor said. "But there's part of me doubting myself. I've just got to start believing in myself a little bit more. But I would love to do it. It would be such a challenge – facing a bigger ball and bigger bowlers [the ball used in women's cricket is slightly smaller in circumference and weighs a little less]. But I'd have to look at myself after the second XI games and say: 'Can you handle this?'
Taylor, who leaves for India on Thursday with the England women's team, as they prepare to defend the 50-over World Cup they won in 2009, is being championed to make the switch to the men's game by Mark Lane, the national women's coach.
England's wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor will be heading off with the
team to defend the 50-over World Cup in India on Thursday. Photograph:
Andy Hall for the Guardian
"Mark is looking at me getting some games with the second XI at
Sussex and that will be just phenomenal cricket," said Taylor. "The plan
is also for me to play some early season games for the MCC boys. Mark
is trying to get me a lot of men's cricket which can only help my game."It's just a case of here could be an opportunity for me. Someone at Sussex approached Mark and asked if there was anyone who could keep [wicket] and Laney, being Laney, was quick to back me. It's daunting but it's brilliant that he backs me to do it in men's cricket. The MCC also approached him about me playing for them.
"I was almost offered a chance to play for the MCC boys against a county cricket first team – Sussex – in a Twenty20 game. But it would have to be in the longer form because the shorter game needs more power. So, yeah, you'll have to keep an eye out and see how I go against the men."
The ECB has stressed that no exact dates have been set for Taylor to play second XI county cricket and that discussions between Lane and Sussex have been "informal". She will, initially, play a high standard of men's club cricket. "I've moved to Walmley cricket club and I'll play for them [in the Birmingham and District Premier League]. I've been playing six years for England and I'm still only 23. I've still got so much to look forward to, especially in men's cricket. But I need to see how well I go in club cricket first."
'Part of me knows it would be phenomenal,' says Taylor. Photograph: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP
Taylor played cricket in her school's first team, Brighton College.
"In my first couple of years you felt like you were proving yourself in
every game. But I was lucky my best mate was captain and he was
brilliant. If anyone messed with me he was my saviour. Brighton College
is a strong cricket school in the A league. So they knew I warranted it
on merit."Taylor told the Guardian that she briefly became disillusioned with cricket in 2010 when, at the age of 21, she walked away from the game and moved to New Zealand. "There were lots of personal reasons and I'd also hit a point where I'd won everything that England could possibly win. In 2009 we won the World Cup, the Twenty20 and retained the Ashes. I thought: 'What else is there for me?' I went to Wellington to get away from cricket. I'd almost hit a wall."
Taylor has returned with renewed ambition. Apart from continuing to dazzle in the women's game, she now has the chance to overcome some old prejudices – and, potentially, to establish herself as a pioneer should she eventually play men's first-class cricket.
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