PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Stafanie Taylor is happy to be confirmed as the leading player in women’s cricket, but the West Indies allrounder does not plan to rest on her laurels.
The outstanding opening batter and off-spinner is the top ranked player across the ICC Women’s Players Rankings for One-Day Internationals.
Taylor, the ICC Women’s Player of the Year, now leads all three rankings’ tables – batting, bowling and all-rounder – and is the only player in history (man or woman) to ever be Number 1 in both batting and bowling rankings in either Test or ODI cricket at the same time.
"It feels great to be Number 1 in the world. It is something I have worked hard to achieve and that hard work has brought me success. But now is not the time to stop. I still have lots of work to do to maintain my form and get even better. I know I can get better," Taylor told WICB Media.
"For me this is a high-point of my career so far, but there is more to achieve. I have been playing really well in both the 50-overs and the 20-overs so I just want to keep improving. My batting is my stronger skill and I always look to build an innings for the team. I love batting so much and I always wanted to be the top in batting."
She added: "The bowling ranking was a bit of a surprise. It’s not my first choice but I will keep working to get better. The West Indies Cricket Board arranged for me to spend some time recently working with Saqlain Mustaq at the Sagicor High Performance Centre and that helped me a lot. He spoke to me a lot about the art of spin bowling and encouraged me to stick with it. He was an inspiration and showed me a few new skills which I am trying to work on over a period of time."
Taylor will be in action on Tuesday when the West Indies Women take on England Women in the first ODI at Queen’s Park Oval. First ball is 9 am (8 am Jamaica Time).
Taylor’s recent form has been outstanding. She made a superb century and took four wickets as she led West Indies Women to a series triumph over New Zealand Women earlier this month at Sabina Park in Jamaica.
The 22-year-old was equally dominant in the recent T20 International Tri Series in at Kensington Oval in Barbados where she was the leading batter with 160 runs (average 40) and one of the leading bowlers with five wickets (average 14.40) at a strike rate of 4.8 runs per over.
At this stage of her career Taylor already has the best batting numbers in the history of West Indies Women’s cricket. She has played 67 ODIs and made 2,626 runs (average 45.27) with five centuries including a top score of 171 – all records. In bowling she is the second highest-wicket-taker of all-time with 91 wickets (average 16.3) at an impressive economy rate of just 2.9 runs per over.
"This series against England will be a challenge. They are stronger than the New Zealanders and we know we will have to work hard to beat them, but we are a confident and committed team," she added.
"The pitch at Queen’s Park looks a good one and we are hoping to put some runs on the board and then apply some pressure with our bowling. There has been rain around and the outfield got a bit wet, but we expect a full game tomorrow."