Taylor’s Sussex Opportunity Could Be Ground-Breaking

The news that England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor could appear for Sussex men’s 2nd XI would unquestionably represent a step forward in acknowledging the increasing excellence of women’s cricket.

Taylor, 23, is widely regarded as one of the best players in female world cricket. She opens the batting for England in one-day matches, bats in the middle order in Test matches and all whilst keeping wicket adeptly.

Indeed, she has set a number of records during her fledgling career. She became the youngest woman to score 1000 runs in one-day internationals in September 2008 in scoring 75 not out against India at Taunton, and also holds the highest individual score against Australia by an Englishwoman.

Her burgeoning talent is unquestionable, but gender has still been an issue during Taylor’s cricketing career.

Along with England team-mate Holly Calvin, she played in Brighton College’s first team in her school days, but was often subjected to condescension and controversy simply because of her gender.

Even now, with the unequivocal backing of national coach Mark Lane, Taylor admits that she is reticent about competing in the men’s game.

“It would be such a challenge – facing a bigger ball and bigger bowlers. But I’d have to look at myself after the second XI games and say: “Can you handle this?””

“There’s part of me doubting myself. I’ve just got to believe in myself a little bit more.”

The agreement is that if Sussex find themselves without a wicketkeeper at short notice, Taylor will be the informal back-up.

However, considering that it took until the penultimate year of the last century for women to be allowed to set foot in Lord’s, the prospect of men and women competing on a level playing field in cricket is captivating.

Although it is widely considered that Taylor is more likely to succeed in longer forms of the game, given the reliance upon physical power in the one-day and Twenty20 formats, the ever-increasing skill and athleticism in women’s sport is now universally accepted.

Indeed, although Sussex have moved to quell rumours that the agreement for Taylor to appear for the second team is set in stone, Taylor is now likely to get an opportunity to play men’s county cricket soon.

And given that former England captain Clare Connor was moved to suggest that Taylor has “huge unfulfilled potential”, there is every chance that she will succeed and thus improve the chances of genuine gender equality within cricket.

If she capitalises upon the opportunity which will hopefully be given to her, then cricket’s long-held reputation for fustiness will be eradicated.

If the success of her England team-mate Arran Brindle is anything to go by, Taylor has every chance of thriving on the men’s county cricket circuit in England.

The 31-year-old Brindle has played for Louth, a club in one of the smaller England and Wales cricket leagues, for six years, and has captained the side for three of them.

“It’s a totally natural environment for me,” said Brindle, who added that she has never experienced discrimination from male opposition. She became the first female player to score a century in semi-professional men’s cricket in 2011.

Taylor’s purported integration into men’s cricket could potentially grant her the same opportunity to thrive in male company as Charlotte Dujardin, the Olympic gold medallist.

Dujardin won individual and team dressage gold in the equestrian at London 2012, in a field which has been mixed since 1952.

And although it will be a far longer journey for Taylor to excel at the very top level – indeed, the odds are still against her – this news is still hugely encouraging for the myriad of cricket fans who believe the gulf in class between men and women’s cricket is overstated.

And in sport’s continued attempts to erode prejudice based upon gender, Sarah Taylor has an opportunity to prove the sceptics wrong.