Welsh Fire have signed up former England wicket-keeper bat Sarah Taylor for the upcoming season of The Hundred. The squad has seen another change as Jess Jonassen has pulled out due to personal reasons, and Georgia Wareham has replaced her country-mate.
Former England international cricketer Sarah Taylor is all set to return to competitive cricket as she has signed up to play for Welsh Fire in the upcoming 2021 season of The Hundred. The wicket-keeper batter announced her retirement in September 2019 after a long and hard-fought battle against anxiety. She last played international cricket in the Ashes in 2019 at home, and her last competitive tournament was the Women’s Kia Super League.
The former England wicket-keeper batter has played a host of international cricket for 13 years. She featured in 10 Tests, 126 ODIs and 90 T20Is, scoring 300 runs at 18.75, 4056 runs at 38.26 and 2177 at 29.02. She also scored seven tons and 36 half-centuries. Moreover, she has affected 232 dismissals across all three formats.
“There has been a real buzz about The Hundred, and especially the women’s competition. We’ve got the best players from around the world involved and the temptation to be part of it was too great to resist. I’m so excited at the prospect of playing again. It’ll be really special to get back out there and be part of a Welsh Fire side that hopefully can have a great first season,” Taylor was quoted saying.
There was another change made to the Welsh Fire squad. Australian all-rounder Jess Jonassen has pulled out of the tournament owing to personal reasons. Australian leg-spinner Georgia Wareham has been named as her replacement. Wareham has been around the Australian Women’s squad for a few years now. She has played 52 international games (20 ODIs and 32 T20Is) and has picked up 55 wickets.
Wareham is the third Australian in the Welsh Fire squad. Australia skipper Meg Lanning and Beth Mooney are already a part of the squad.