IT has been 38 years since a woman cricketer won the Sportswoman of the Year award and that trend will likely continue despite the wonderful season Stafanie Taylor had for the West Indies team.

In 1976, female cricketing legend Vivalyn Latty-Scott won the prestigious award and is actually the last non-track and field person to win for over three decades.

The odds are certainly against Taylor being crowned RJR National Sportswoman of the Year, but she remains a worthy contender.

Taylor, 23, who made her international debut for the West Indies as a 17-year-old, led the West Indies Women to the semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh last March where they lost to eventual champions Australia.

The Spanish Town native scored 153 runs from four matches with a top-score of 56 not out and finished with an average of 51 per cent.

Taylor, who was the first West Indian female cricketer to win the ICC Cricketer of the Year award in 2011, hit 15 fours and two sixes to end with the impressive strike rate of 108.51.

Taylor scored 56 with a strike rate of 124 per cent as West Indies defeated England by nine runs in their first Group A match. West Indies had made 133-7 and restricted England Ladies to 124-9.

Taylor missed West Indies’ second match where they defeated Bangladesh by 36 runs, but returned for the third match hitting 56 not out as West Indies beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets with 30 balls remaining.

Sri Lanka had struggled to 84 and Taylor stroked seven fours from 45 balls in a 56-minute stay at the crease to wrap up an easy victory.

Taylor was dismissed for 17 as West Indies lost to India in their final group match and again to defending champion Australia in the semi-final, chasing 141 for victory.

Taylor was promoted to the opening spot and she was first dismissed being run out for 24 with the score on 43 in the eighth over as West Indies pressed for victory. They would eventually lose by eight runs, making 132-4.

But Taylor’s effort was recognised as she was one of four persons nominated for the 2014 ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC Women’s T20 Cricketer of the Year.

Taylor, a two-time winner of the Women’s Cricketer of the Year Award and considered one of the best women’s cricketers in the world for the past four years, was up against Indian women’s team skipper Mithali Raj; England’s women’s captain Charlotte Edwards, winner in 2008; England wicketkeeper/batter Sarah Taylor, who eventually got the nod in the ODI Cricketer of the Year. Meg Lanning of Australia won the Women’s T20 Cricketer of the Year.

Earlier in the year, Taylor led Jamaica to victory in the regional one-day competition to retain their title.

Taylor is currently the top- ranked all-rounder in the ODI version of the game and fifth in batting. She is seventh for batting and fourth among all-rounders in the Women’s T20 rankings.

— Howard Walker