Sarah Taylor Becomes First Woman in England Men's Coaching Setup

Sarah Taylor achieved yet another extraordinary moment in her legendary cricket path by becoming the first female to join the England men's coaching line-up. Formerly an England cricketer and Kent captain Rob Key, ECB's Director of Cricket, revealed the news on Wednesday, May 13.

Since hanging up her boots in 2019, Sarah’s coaching career has soared and made a huge impact. Being a pioneer woman in male professional cricket, in 2021, she was named by Sussex County Cricket Club as the wicketkeeping coach, making her the first female specialist coach in men's county cricket. The very same year, she made history once more by becoming first woman coach in men's franchise cricket after being part of Team Abu Dhabi in the T10 League.

Key Highlights

• Sarah Taylor becomes the first woman to join in England men's cricket coaching team, creating a historic milestone.
• After retiring in 2019, she continued to break barriers that includes becoming the first female specialist coach in men's county and franchise cricket.
• Former England cricketer, Rob Key praises Sarah as one of the best coaches.

Sarah has taken part in a number of different operations besides working with Manchester Originals and at the England Lions program, where she has gained recognition firstly as a wicketkeeper and secondly for mentoring young players. Sarah has also become a major contributor in the Women's Premier League by joining Gujarat Giants as a fielding coach before the 2026 season, thereby strengthening a coaching staff under Michael Klinger.

On Sarah joining England men's cricket, Rob said, “I just think she's one of the best in the business at what she does. She's been outstanding, and she's worked a lot with Andrew Flintoff and Ed Barney (performance director). They can't speak highly enough of her. So from what we can see, she's one of the best in the business.”

Before starting coaching, Sarah had one of the greatest cricket careers in women's cricket together with her wicketkeeping girl skills and powerful hitting that made her the youngest member of the England team at a very early age. She made her England debut in 2006 as a teenager, changing the standards of wicketkeeping with her very fast glovework and powerful batting style. In all forms of the game, Sarah has played for England in 10 Tests, 126 ODIs and 90 T20Is, making over 6500 runs at international level with seven centuries and 38 half-centuries.

Sarah played a pivotal role during the golden era of women's cricket for England. With her contribution, England clinched the 2009 ODI World Cup title, the 2009 T20 World Cup, and the 2017 ODI World Cup which was held at Lord's.

Sarah played a crucial 45 that changed the game for England in that fateful 2017 final against India, resulting in a thrilling nine-run win for the England team. On an individual level, she was chosen as ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2014, and at her best times, she was considered the top wicketkeeper in the women's game.