Claire Taylor

Not to be confused with Clare Taylor, English cricketer born 1965.

Claire Taylor

Personal information
Full name	Samantha Claire Taylor
Born	25 September 1975 (1975-09-25) Amersham, Bucks, England
Batting style	Right-handed
Role	Batsman, occasional wicket-keeper
International information
Test debut (cap 127)	15 July 1999 v India women
Last Test	18 February 2008 v Australia women
ODI debut (cap 78)	19 July 1998 v Australia women
Last ODI	14 March 2009 v New Zealand women
ODI shirt no.	6
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1993–1999	Thames Valley Women
2000–present	Berkshire Women
2002–2005	Canterbury Magicians
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODI	T20 Int
Matches	14	109	8
Runs scored	1,008	3,611	212
Batting average	43.82	40.57	30.28
100s/50s	4/2	8/19	0/0
Top score	177	156*	76
Catches/stumpings	18/–	38/5	2/–
Source: Cricinfo, 22 March 2009

Samantha Claire Taylor MBE (born 25 September 1975 at Amersham, Buckinghamshire) is a former English cricketer and retired member of the England women's team. A determined batsman, with almost 3,500 runs in over a hundred One Day International appearances, she was the top ranked female ODI batsman in the world going into the 2009 Women's World Cup. During that competition she scored her 8th ODI century, a record in the women's game.

Early life

Taylor attended Dolphin School in Berkshire, The Abbey School and Kendrick School before reading mathematics at the Queen's College, Oxford, where she won three blues for hockey and captained the university hockey team, and three half blues for cricket. In addition to her sporting achievements, she is also an accomplished violinist and has a Masters degree in Mathematics. After Oxford, Taylor took up a job in IT management.

Professional career

Taylor abandoned her IT job in 2001 to play cricket full time; as this greatly reduced her income, she had to go back to live with her parents to get by.

She compiled her first test century against Australia at Headingley in 2001 and scored 177 and 131 in the first two tests against South Africa in 2003. In the first women's One Day International against India on 14 August 2006, Taylor scored a century at Lord's, and became the female highest limited-overs score at Lord's, with 156 not out off 151 balls. In 2005, Taylor was the leading run-scorer in the NatWest Women's Series, scoring 325 in five innings.

She was an integral part of England's World Cup winning team in 2009, being named player of the tournament after scoring 324 runs, with a top score of 101, at an average of 64.80.

Taylor was listed among the 2009 Wisden Cricketers of the Year, the first woman to receive this accolade in the 120 year history of the award.

[Taylor] almost single-handedly saw England through to victory and the retention of the Ashes in Australia last year ... It would be a sin of omission, an act of prejudice, to exclude her from the accolade. [...] The England women have been the pride of the nation as far as cricket is concerned in recent years, and [Taylor's] nomination as a Cricketer of the Year is testament to the sterling effort the ladies have consistently put in.

—Scyld Berry, editor—Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 

She was not a natural batsman at the start of her career and had to work very hard with batting coach Mark Lane at improving her action.

It's hard to believe that the world's premier batsman Claire Taylor was once a bottom-handed hockey player with the wrong batting mindset, described by her coach Mark Lane as "just average."... For ten years they worked every Tuesday night in Guildford for 90 minutes from 5.30 pm, with Lane's main aim to change her mindset more than anything.

—Alice Dean, Cricinfo, 

She was player of the series as England won the inaugural Women's World Twenty/20 Competition in England in June 2009. A vital knock of 76 not out from 53 balls enabled England to overhaul Australia in the semi finals and she top scored in the final with 39 not out in the 6 wicket defeat of New Zealand. Overall she scored 199 runs in 5 matches, being dismissed on just one occasion.

Taylor was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours.

After helping England win the Natwest Quadrangular ODI trophy in July 2011 she announced her retirement from international cricket. Clare Connor, head of Women's cricket at the ECB, praised her contribution to the game in glowing terms. "Her incomparable hunger to always improve, hard work, focus and mental toughness have combined to make her the best batter in the women's game...Claire has earned the respect of all who have played with her, against her, or who have had the pleasure of watching her."

Personal life

Taylor passed an audition for the Reading Orchestra in the mid-2000s, and also has a part-time job with a performance management consultancy based at the University of Reading.

External links

• Player profile: Claire Taylor from ESPNcricinfo