Sarah Taylor appointed as first woman fielding coach of England men’s team

Former England wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor has been appointed as the fielding coach of the senior men’s Test team. Taylor is understood to be the first woman to work as a coach with England’s senior men’s cricket team.

Her appointment is believed to be on a short-term basis for England’s upcoming series against New Zealand. The 37-year-old Taylor will fill in for Carl Hopkinson, who is on IPL duty with the Mumbai Indians.

“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,” ECB’s Director of Cricket, Rob Key, told mediapersons on Wednesday.

Taylor previously worked with the men’s teams of Sussex and Manchester Originals. She worked with Flintoff in the England Lions (England A) set-up. She retired in 2019 after making 226 appearances for England across formats.

“We've been thoroughly, unbelievably impressed with (Taylor) and the way that she goes about her business.

“Carl Hopkinson, as is the nature of the cricket world that we have at the moment, he's working with the Mumbai Indians. He has a lot of stuff that he does for them, so we'll still use him at some point, just not for this series,” Key said.