Piling on the hundreds...

With 10 centuries to her name, Claire Taylor has undoubtedly been England’s most consistent and reliable batswoman in the last few years. Priya Ganoo explores further with insights on the player who made made her international debut back in 1999, and overcame a slow start before establishing herself as one of the best players going around.

In a country where cricket is the national sport, surprisingly Claire had not taken up the sport professionally until the age of 19. During her school days she played hockey, football and rugby. She went on to represent England's hockey team at the U-17 and U-19 levels.

Giving up hockey after she was on the verge of a full-fledged career in the sport was a tough decision. When she went on to play cricket at the university level, she realised the standard of cricket was much higher and so ultimately she switched to it and stayed there.

© AFP The England women's team at the Buckingham palace after winning the 2005 Ashes series

A solid right-hand bat and wicketkeeper, Taylor read mathematics at Oxford. She also played in the men’s side at the university level and this sort of opened the door to her international career when she was chosen for the England Women’s U-19 squad. From here on there was no stopping Claire and four years later in 1999 she made her international debut.

In 2001 she made a mockery of her previous highest score of 18 with a defiant 137 in England's second Test defeat to Australia at Headingley. But her critical knock came at Lord's in 2006, where she made 156 against India, a record one-day score at the venue, eclipsing Viv Richards' 138 not out in the World Cup in 1979. England went on to win the series 4-0.

One of the high points of her career came in 2005 when England won the Ashes series following the triumph of the men’s team in the same season. Also, she smashed two fifties in the recently concluded one off Test at the Bradman Oval in Bowral against Australia.

With almost a decade of cricket behind her, she is a veteran in the sport. Taylor believes the upcoming series against New Zealand, South Africa and India will be vital in the team’s preparation for the World Cup next year.

Claire is fond of listening to music and also works as a consultant when she is not playing cricket.