England’s cricket women go for World Cup final glory
Wicketkeeper whose stumping went viral says support of her coach is key to beating stress
There was a moment in the Women’s World Cup semi-final that spoke volumes about how far women’s cricket has travelled. It involved England’s Nat Sciver bowling to the South African batsman Trisha Chetty. The medium-paced Sciver sent the ball down the leg side, and Chetty flashed at it, hoping to steer it away to the fine-leg boundary. But she missed the ball. And before anyone had even noticed such an opening was available, the wicketkeeper, Sarah Taylor, had whipped off the stumps to send the dangerous Chetty back to the pavilion.
It was a head-turning example of wicketkeeping, one which was shared on social media tens of thousands of times. And, so quick was her seizure of the chance, the overwhelming response was: how had she managed to do that?
That it was Taylor turning heads was all the more significant. The most naturally gifted player of her generation, this time last year Taylor had been obliged to take a rest from the game she loved after becoming overwhelmed with anxiety. Unable to fly, scared by the prospect of batting, terrified if the temperature rose above cool, she became a bag of nerves in the England dressing room. So badly was she debilitated by her condition that, after the World Twenty20 in the spring of 2016, she decided to take a break from the game entirely.
“A year ago, I was absolutely nowhere,” she admitted after the semi-final victory this week. “I don’t think I’ve fully reflected on it, and I probably will after the tournament, no matter what happens, but yeah, I will give myself a big pat on the back for getting through the tournament so far, actually for getting through every game. I wasn’t expecting to play every game.”
After undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy, Taylor had learned strategies to help her cope with the anxiety that meant she froze on big occasions. Her recovery so impressed the new team coach, Mark Robinson, that he no hesitation in bringing her back into his World Cup squad.
“I think that’s a testament to everybody involved, and obviously Sarah is the most important person in it,” he said of her reintroduction. “With anything you do, you put the player at the middle of everything. You always go back to that: how is it affecting Sarah? The ECB and our support staff have worked brilliantly together in a very integrated way to make the environment the best for her to come back into.”
Robinson was quick to point out that, although it was necessary to acknowledge her issues, any such accommodation had to be done within the strictures of the team. She was expected to – and happily acknowledged that she must – stick to the team orders and rules.
“There are certain things she had to adhere to. Boundaries had to be there. But we started slowly. Bringing her back into academy sessions. Meetings were a stress for her, doing small meetings, so we had to integrate that back into the full professional team.
“Could we get her to Abu Dhabi [for a training camp]? That was our biggest challenge, because of her anxiety around flying and the airport, around heat. It’s been challenging, but it’s been a huge learning experience for myself as a person and a coach, going through the process.”
Robinson reckoned that the England set-up had learned valuable lessons from the experience of the past. “It’s similar with what happened with Michael Yardy,” he said. “But with Sarah we felt we had a better involvement through the psychologists than we had with Michael.”
Taylor herself put much of the success of her rehabilitation down to Robinson’s leadership. “I think he’s probably been the biggest … if you take away all the personal people in your life, the friends, the family.
“In terms of this team, he’s made it OK for me to do things and not do things. He’s the one who reminds me and grounds me every day that I should be proud. Even if we had lost [the semi], he would still say I should be proud of myself. He has been massively instrumental and I think a lot of people could learn from what he is doing.”
The other players in the England team have been delighted to have Taylor back among them fit and firing, with her mind focused and her gloves moving at lightning speed. “It was an outstanding piece of work,” said the vice-captain Anya Shrubsole of her semi-final stumping. “I was at midwicket, had a really good view. We see her do ridiculous things behind the stumps all the time. I can remember in the Ashes, she took a diving catch off a reverse sweep. She makes a big difference with the bat, but she’s game-changing with the gloves.”
Shrubsole, one of the quicker bowlers in the side, reckoned Taylor’s ability behind the stumps made a big difference to her own bowling.
“She’s really crucial to me, she stands up to the stumps, which means the batters have to stay in the crease, which is a big help to me if the ball is swinging.”
The spinner Alex Hartley was another who was not at all
‘A year ago, I was absolutely nowhere. I don’t think I’ve fully reflected on it’
surprised by Taylor’s brilliance in that stumping.
“She does stuff like that all the time,” Hartley said. “She’s a fantastic wicketkeeper, it’s so good to have her back. Sarah knows all my variations. She’s so good she doesn’t need telling when I’m going to bowl, she just kind of knows it instinctively.”
However, watching her astonishing stumping of Chetty reminded Hartley that not everything Taylor tries comes off. “Actually, she’s missed a couple of stumpings off me,” she added.
Tomorrow, though, India’s batsmen might be advised not to assume she will miss again.