Published: Wednesday, 8th April, 2009 12:30pm

Taylor takes her place among the all-time greats

by Ben Steele

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CLAIRE Taylor's perfect start to 2009 continued this week as she made a piece of cricketing history.

Not content with topping the run charts in helping the England Women's team to World Cup glory, the Reading Cricket Club player has broken into one of the game's last bastions of male domination.

For Taylor has been named among the Five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, widely regarded as the game's ‘Bible'.

It is the first time in Wisden's 120 years of publication that a woman has made it onto the prestigious shortlist, an honour bestowed on every great player from Bradman to Richards, Hobbs to Warne.

And a humbled Taylor admitted that aligning herself with those cricketing giants would take some getting used to.

She said: "It's a huge, huge honour. Wisden have been naming the five cricketers of the year for 120 years now and if you look at the list, every great player is on there.

"To find myself on that list as well is a bit surreal."

It tops off a remarkable year for the world's number one batter, who combines her cricket with a consultancy role at Reading University.

Having scored two half-centuries to help England defeat Australia in the one-off Ashes test at the start of 2008, she was the backbone of the side that went unbeaten throughout last summer.

And the 33-year-old completed a year that any of those cricketing greats would be proud of by being named player of the tournament in England's recent World Cup victory Down Under.

She reflected: "The last 12 months have just been brilliant - it's been a real breakthrough year for the team.

"We won the Ashes in Australia, then went on our long unbeaten run, and now we have won the World Cup. And the exciting thing is there is still so much to play for this summer.

"There is the Twenty20 World Cup which is taking place here at the same time as the men's tournament.

"It's a great chance for more exposure for the women's game and the chance to play in front of some really big crowds if we get through to the later stages.

"And after that we have got the Ashes as well, so it should make for an exciting few months."

Before that, there is a celebratory meal at Reading Cricket Club this evening (Thursday) to mark the efforts of Taylor and her clubmate Isa Guha at the World Cup.

And Taylor added: "The club has been great all the way through.

"We have always had such a good link with the men's side and there is no doubt that has been a big part of our success and development."

Scyld Berry, editor of Wisden, was fulsome in his praise of Taylor as he explained her inclusion.

He said: "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 Claire's nomination as a Cricketer of the Year is testament to the sterling effort the ladies have consistently put in."

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