Sarah Taylor, the former English cricketer, is regarded as one of the finest wicket-keepers of all time. With her skill and expertise, she will now be coaching the Sussex wicketkeepers and will play the role of Wicketkeeper Coach of a men’s team. England’s County Cricket Club Sussex announced on Monday, the 15th, that the former keeper-batter would, for the upcoming season, join the coaching staff.
Two new additions to our coaching staff. 🤝
Sussex Cricket is delighted to announce the appointment of Ashley Wright and @Sarah_Taylor30:
— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) March 15, 2021
In the 13 years of her international career, she earned 226 England caps and claimed a total of 232 dismissals. Having held the record of most wicket-keeping dismissals, before retiring from international, the 31-year-old will be joining Ben Brown and Phil Salt in the coaching staff.
“I’m really pleased about working with the club’s wicketkeepers. From Ben Brown and Phil Salt in the professional squad and down through the pathway, we have a really talented group of keepers at Sussex who I am looking forward to working with immensely. I want to share my experience and expertise to help them get the most out of their game. I’m a big believer in keeping things simple and perfecting the basics so that players can enjoy and express themselves with the gloves,” the three-time World Cup winner was quoted saying in a statement.
James Kirtley, Joint Sussex head coach with Ian Salisbury, welcomed Taylor to the coaching family saying- “Sarah has so much to offer our players, but also our environment. She is hugely skilled in the world of wicket keeping, but she will also bring so much good as a person around our group. She adds great perspective to a situation and as a coach she provides an excellent sounding board for ideas and is a fantastic communicator. I am certain she will become a huge asset to our setup.”
Alongside Sarah, Ashley Wright has also been appointed as the batting coach who will be assisting the county’s lead batting coach Jason Swift. Specializing in human movement and biomechanics, he is a qualified Level 4 coach.
On Wright’s appointment to the club, Kirtley said- “With his slightly different skill set, Ash will add tremendous value to the work we do with our batters. His knowledge of human movement coupled with his experience of playing is an exciting combination. He has already built some solid relationships with our players and we are seeing them incorporate some of his ideas into their games. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the work he does when it comes to hitting in limited-overs cricket.”
Sussex joint men’s head coach Ian Salisbury, on the addition of the two, said- “As with everything we do, the decision to add Sarah and Ash to our coaching staff is based on our strategic aim to produce home-grown or ‘Sussex-fied’ players who will ensure the club is competing in all formats and providing as many players for England as possible in the future. They both bring a huge amount of cricketing knowledge, skill, and experience, as well as a fantastic work ethic, to the entirety of our player pathway. Equally as important, Sarah and Ash both fit our mantra of coaching the whole person, not just the cricketer very well.”
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I’m a Senior Masters student pursuing Journalism and Mass Communication. An all time Cricket enthusiast. I could never play the game but always loved watching it, and now writing about it!