Sarah Taylor: A genius at her craft

Following a long and distinguished playing career that reached great heights at the crease with the bat and produced even bigger accolades behind the stumps as one of the most accomplished wicket-keepers of all time, Sarah Taylor joins the ICC Hall of Fame in 2025.

"Being inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame is one of the best moments of my life and truly feels like a dream come true", she said upon being bestowed with the honour.

"Women's cricket has been thriving in recent years, and receiving this award during such a significant time makes it even more special. I am grateful to the members of the ICC Hall of Fame selection panel for this recognition."

Taylor's international career spanned just short of 13 years and the stylish wicket-keeper batter produced many records and milestones throughout her time in an England shirt as she amassed a total of 226 appearance and tallied a whopping 6533 international runs to sit high up the charts on the team's all-time scoring list behind current national coach and long-time confidant Charlotte Edwards.

But it's perhaps her 232 dismissals across formats behind the stumps in what was a record for women's internationals when she retired in 2019 that really stands out, with Taylor highly regarded among her peers as one of the best keepers ever seen.

Legendary Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist said Taylor was the best keeper in the game in 2018 - both male and female - and the backlog of difficult catches and trademark leg-side stumpings when fielding up to the stumps to the seamers further strengthens this claim.

Taylor made it look easy when standing behind the stumps with her quickness and ability to judge where the ball was headed a clear standout and the England great is a well deserved inductee into the ICC Hall of Fame.

Fast start to international career

It didn't take long for Taylor to make her mark on international cricket, with the then 17-year-old debuting in all three formats within the space of just nine days against India during the home summer of 2006.

A quickfire half-century when collecting the Player of the Match award in just her fourth ODI appearance provided a glimpse of Taylor's talent and the attacking right-hander built on this further when smashing a century against Australia in Chennai in 2007.

Top of her game in 2009

The year of 2009 was a landmark period for England cricket with the women's side winning both the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in Australia and ICC Women's T20 World Cup on home soil within the space of a few months and it was no surprise that Taylor played a pivotal role in both triumphs.

The best players generally lift their game on the biggest stage and that's exactly what Taylor did in both those 2009 title deciders, with the now first-choice England keeper and opener contributing a quickfire 39 at the top of the order in the World Cup final against New Zealand in Sydney and then doing similar in the T20 World Cup when the stakes were potentially even higher.

Taylor produced two brilliant catches and a trademark stumping to help dismiss the Kiwis for just 85, before getting her side off to a fast start in reply with an innings of 23 that paved the way for the victory.

Accolades roll in for emerging force

Taylor was quickly being recognised as one of the best players in world cricket and it was only fitting that the individual awards started coming her way as she continued to amass a mountain of runs at international level and back that up with more polished displays as keeper.

She was named ICC Women's T20I Cricketer of the Year in consecutive years in 2012 and 2013 and collected another feather in her cap when adjudged ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2013 on the back of plenty of runs and impressive displays behind the stumps.

Dealing with off-field issues

While it may have appeared to have all come easily for Taylor, there were some struggles off the field and in 2016 she took an extended time away from the game to battle with an ongoing anxiety issue.

She returned in 2017 to win a second 50-over World Cup title, playing a vital role with innings of 54 and 45 in knockout contests against South Africa and India that helped deliver the ultimate success once again in front of a packed crowd at Lord's.

Taylor chose not to go to the West Indies for the 2018 T20 World Cup and announced her retirement late in 2019 after deciding to once again withdraw from the England squad for a home Ashes series against Australia.

After a couple of years out of the game Taylor made a brief comeback for Welsh Fire in the inaugural season of The Hundred in 2021 and has since held a handful of coaching jobs in England with the Manchester Originals and the English Lions.