Born on 22nd May 1965 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, former Test and ODI player for England, Clare Elizabeth Taylor MBE.
Nicknamed “Romper”, Clare was a right-hand batter and right-arm medium pace bowler, made her ODI debut against Ireland at North Sydney Oval in the 1988 World Cup. She took 1-17 and didn’t bat. That wicket was the first of 102 wickets and is England’s first player to take 100 ODI wickets.
Those wickets came at an average of 23.95 with a best of 4-13 against Denmark in the 1993 World Cup. World Cups are significant, for Clare played in five of them: 1988, 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2005. A talented footballer, Clare also represented England in a football World Cup, making her the first woman to have played in a World Cup in both sports.
A Test debut came in 1995/96 against India at Calcutta (Kolkatta). Her only wicket in that match, Chanderkanta Kaul. She missed the second Test but came bounding back in the third Test at Hyderabad where she took 4-38 in the first innings. However it is with bat that she displayed real heroics in that match where she survived for two hours in a tenth wicket partnership with Debbie Stock to save the match for England, allowing them to win the series 1-0.
Awarded the MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2000 for her services to sport.