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Could Sarah Taylor make the World Cup?
Sarah Taylor took a significant step towards a return to international cricket on Thursday, when she took the field for an England XI against Ireland in the UAE and scored 26 not out to contribute to the second of three victories during a pre-World Cup training camp.
Taylor, 27, who was belatedly added to the camp after missing out on original selection, said afterwards that she felt “more pride” in resuming her career following a year of anxiety issues than she had felt in making her England debut as a teenager back in 2006.
Despite playing nearly 200 matches for England in all formats, Taylor has not featured for her country since the World T20 in India last March, having taken an indefinite break from the game to undergo Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to address a debilitating condition that had, at times, led to her leaving the field of play to be sick.
“I can’t thank the staff enough for helping me achieve more than I hoped for this tour,” Taylor wrote on Twitter. “I didn’t come here looking to play any games and my expectations were low.
“There has been some bumps along the way, but on Thursday I put on an England shirt for the first time in over a year. I honestly didn’t know if this would ever happen again but I had more pride this time than when I debuted back in 2006.
“It is still a complete honour to wear the England badge and share a dressing room with this squad.”
Taylor is widely regarded as one of the world’s best female batsmen and wicketkeepers, and in 2015, she became the first woman to play first-grade men’s cricket in Australia.
Her ECB central contract was renewed in December, in spite of her year on the sidelines, and she remains in the thoughts of England coach Mark Robinson, as he oversees his squad’s final preparations for the World Cup that gets underway on home soil on June 24.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo