BREAKING: Sarah Taylor In England World Cup Squad

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Sarah Taylor has been named in England’s 15-strong World Cup squad announced today. Taylor has only played one competitive match in over a year, scoring 61 for Sussex v Kent last weekend, but has continued to train with England throughout most of that period. If England ultimately decide she unable to play, they will be able to name an injury replacement.

Missing out are Tash Farrant, Kate Cross and Amy Jones – but all will presumably be on standby in case of injuries.

Full Squad:

  • Heather Knight (Berkshire)
  • Tammy Beaumont (Kent)
  • Katherine Brunt (Yorkshire)
  • Georgia Elwiss (Sussex)
  • Jenny Gunn (Warwickshire)
  • Alex Hartley (Lancashire)
  • Danielle Hazell (Yorkshire)
  • Beth Langston (Yorkshire)
  • Laura Marsh (Kent)
  • Anya Shrubsole (Somerset)
  • Nat Sciver (Surrey)
  • Sarah Taylor (Sussex)
  • Fran Wilson (Middlesex)
  • Lauren Winfield (Yorkshire)
  • Danni Wyatt (Sussex)

18 thoughts on “BREAKING: Sarah Taylor In England World Cup Squad”

  3. England must be incredibly confident that there is not one shred of Taylor’s stress issues unresolved because the definition of pressure must be asking a player to play in a World Cup, on home soil, having played 1 competitive match and no international matches in 12 months. With all the strength in depth that Clare Connor is convinced England have, it makes it is an even more remarkable achievement that Taylor could get ahead of that strength in depth and be selected. If she goes on to have a good world cup she can change her nickname from ‘Squirt’ to ‘Lazarus’.

    Looked at through this lens, Jones is not unlucky. They only want one keeper in the squad, Robinson considers her the No 2 to a fit Taylor and Robinson considers Taylor is fit to play a World Cup. Jones’s only way in therefore is as a batsman and Robinson clearly considers others are better batsman than Jones (which I admit is an interesting debate in itself).

    I’m no expert in matters of stress but, unlike physical conditions, is it not the case that the only way one can truly know whether this sort of stress related matter is resolved is by actually playing an international match. It’s a bit tough on Taylor that that international match will be a televised World Cup match against India and not a low key bi-lateral series many thousands of miles away against lesser quality opposition (eg Sri Lanka last November would have been ideal but her progress didn’t allow that).

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  4. There are few surprises in the personnel named, although with such a small squad allowed, there were bound to be a couple of disappointed players. Amy Jones can consider herself unfortunate to have been left out, (mainly due to Taylor’s return) as she could have played just as a batsman, although from what Robinson has said she’s very much the no. 1 reserve. Ecclestone is also unlucky. I actually thought Robinson might throw a surprise into the mix, but he’s decided to just stick with the established players. Overall the squad is a well-rounded group, that look on paper at least to have all the bases covered. But England have fallen by the wayside before when the pressure was on. Can they get through those tough moments that have proved so troublesome in the past?

    Sarah Taylor’s return will be a fantastic moment for England. I hope she can continue to contribute as she always has.

    The first match, against India at Derby on 24 June, is going to be huge for both sides. It’s a sellout, and following India’s dominance in the SA quadrangular series, I think they will offer a substantial challenge. They will be looking to set the tone, but let’s hope England can put up a decent performance at least, as we don’t want the tournament to start with them setting a low bar.

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  5. Concerning that Wyatt,Wilson,Elwiss have only scored 2 ODI 50’s between themselves in England colours.

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    • Wilson has only batted 4 times in ODIs.
      Elwiss has only batted 6 times in ODIs at higher than No 6 (although she did get one of her 2 50s at No 6).

      Interesting that our likely openers, Beaumont and Winfield, have hardly played any ODIs against Aus or NZ. Beaumont has batted once against Aus (9) and twice against NZ (2 and 12). Winfield has batted once against Aus (7) and 3 times against NZ (3, 14 and 29).

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    • Judge a batsman by the number of innings they’ve batted not the number of matches they’ve played.
      Also judge a batsman by the detail of their innings (some innings only involve the 300th ball of the innings).

      Knight took 11 innings to get her first ODI 50, Beaumont took 17 innings and Winfield took 16. Elwiss got her 1st ODI 50 in her 6th innings.

      Your case would have been stronger if it had excluded Elwiss and Wilson.

      Wyatt has batted 38 times in ODIs and not made a 50 – I agree that this is a concern (and extremely irritating given how graceful a batsman she is).

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    • Even though the coach was described by Cricinfo as a journeymen county bowler with a batting average of 3,surely he must realise the importance of having left handed batsman in your squad.Australia Women have got 2/3 specialist batters in their Squad and also the England Mens team for the Champions Trophy have 3 in Morgan,Stokes and Ali as well as Willey in the lower order.As far as I can see we do not have any specialist left hand bats in the squad.

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  12. True……
    Could be Farrant !
    Perhaps Grundy !
    More likely Eve Jones I guess. Not many more lefties out there.

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  13. We remain unenlightened by Anonymous. Not sure there is much point slagging off the current players if you cannot suggest a viable alternative. Perhaps Anonymous (whoever he or she is) is in the nets as I type…batting left handed of course!

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