Taylor to start series against England as favourite
DUBAI, UAE (CMC) — West Indies’ all-rounder Stafanie Taylor will start the upcoming three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against England as the top ranked player.
The Jamaican opener is ranked the top player across the Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODIs.
Taylor leads all three rankings’ tables — batting, bowling and all-rounder — and is the only player in history (man or woman) to ever be number one in both batting and bowling rankings in either Test or ODI cricket at the same time.
The latest Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODIs were updated at the end of West Indies’ 2-1 series win in a three-match series against visiting New Zealand that finished in Jamaica earlier this month.
England captain Charlotte Edwards is in third place of the Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODI Batters and, in the second ODI of the upcoming series, will become only the second women’s captain to lead her side in 100 or more ODIs.
Only Australia’s former skipper and ICC Hall of Famer Belinda Clarke has captained more than Edwards (101 ODIs).
To date, Edwards has led her side in 98 ODIs, winning 61, losing 31, and recording six no results. She has also skippered 66 Twenty20 Internationals — more than any other women’s captain — winning 50 and losing 14, with one no-result and one tied encounter. Edwards has also led her side in seven Tests, after making her Test debut in July 1996 against New Zealand.
Sarah Taylor in eighth, Deandra Dottin in ninth and Lydia Greenway in 11th are some of the batters inside the top 20, who are likely to be seen in action during the series.
In the Reliance ICC Women’s Player Rankings for ODI Bowlers, England will be without the services of number-two ranked Katherine Brunt, but the other bowlers inside the top 10 who are likely to be in action for the visiting side are Jenny Gunn in seventh spot and Holly Colvin in 10th.
For West Indies, apart from top-ranked Taylor, who was the leading wicket-taker in the recent series against New Zealand (11) and player of the series, the others inside the top 10 likely to feature in the series are Shanel Daley in fourth place and Anisa Mohammed in sixth.
The West Indies play England in three ODIs, including two day/night matches at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The first game begins on Tuesday, followed by the day/night fixtures on Friday and Sunday.
