Stafanie Taylor: "If we hadn't come over, we're not sure whether we'd have had any tour coming up"

NICK FRIEND AT DERBY: West Indies ensured that any fear of a lost summer would not come to pass, answering the call of the ECB in mid-August despite having enjoyed little opportunity to prepare in the Caribbean due to Covid-19 restrictions

Stafanie Taylor reflected on her pride as a hastily arranged five-match series came to an end in Derby, with West Indies returning home empty-handed.

There was less than a month between confirmation of the tour going ahead and the first match, as the visitors came to the aid of English cricket for the second time in an exceptional season.

England were initially primed to face India and South Africa in a bumper summer of women’s cricket on the back of the T20 World Cup. However, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic altered those plans, with neither nation able to fulfil their trips, leaving open the distinct possibility of a campaign without international action for Heather Knight’s charges.

Yet, West Indies ensured that any fear of a lost summer would not come to pass, answering the call of the ECB in mid-August despite having enjoyed little opportunity to prepare in the Caribbean due to Covid-19 restrictions.

“I’m very proud,” Taylor reflected. “When we look at the year, if we hadn’t come over, we’re not sure whether we’d have had any tour coming up.

“When the chance came, we took it because we wanted to play some cricket. We knew what the challenges would be but, nevertheless, we wanted to come here and play some good cricket.

“We knew that we were coming into England’s backyard and that it wouldn’t be an easy tour. We had a few weeks of training and we trained really hard. It’s just one of those tours that just didn’t go our way. We had a look at some young players, which was something that we talked about, trying to integrate the younger players as well.”

^{Deandra Dottin was the leading run-scorer on either side}

While the hosts would ultimately complete a clean sweep on a damp, windy night at the Incora County Ground, Taylor’s side did at least offer up significant resistance in a match that was reduced to five overs per side due to steady rain that only abated just in time for an 8.27pm start – the cut-off time for a match to begin.

They were well in the game throughout, inching to a score of 41 for 3 from their truncated innings, with England harum-scarum in their response. They found themselves 5 for 2, 25 for 5 and 38 for 7, before belatedly edging over the line in the final over, where they were helped by two no-balls from Shakera Selman.

“I thought that today was really exciting,” Taylor added. “It’s the first time I’ve ever actually played a five-over game.

And that's it, the end of the international summer

“I thought the energy was really good in the field – the fearlessness was really good too when we were batting. We were really positive and you could see that intent. It’s a pity that we didn’t win. It was there for us to win but it’s just one of those games that could go either way.

“You can always look back and think of whether you could do this or do that. But it’s a five-over game – things happen. It’s not a case where England were going to come out and just take ones. They were always going to look for twos and boundaries.

“I thought we did really well in the field. That last over from Selman wasn’t what we expected. With the two no-balls, it’s not quite ideal, But I thought in the end we did really well.”

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