'Happy to be a part of it' - Former England cricketer Sarah Taylor announces partner’s pregnancy

Former England wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor, on Wednesday, announced her partner’s pregnancy to the world. Taylor, who retired from international cricket in 2019, took to social media to announce the good news to everyone. One of the best wicketkeepers as well as the most successful cricketers in the history of women’s cricket, Taylor announced retirement from international cricket in September 2019 due to anxiety issues as well.

However, she shared a picture with her partner and shared that the “journey was not an easy one but she’s happy to be a part of it.”

However, Sarah Taylor had also taken an indefinite break from the game in March 2016 due to mental health problems but later she returned to the game to represent her country at the World Cup. In the 2017 World Cup, which marked her return, she amassed 396 runs at an average of 49.50. Taylor scored 147 in a group game against South Africa and posted scores of 54 in the semi-final and 45 against India in the final.

Speaking about battling mental health and what she went through, the 33-year-old told The Guardian, “You’re very negative. Everything is the worst-case scenario. My panic attacks would come because I couldn’t breathe properly. I’d spend the entire day focusing on breathing. I’d then think: ‘What am I doing with my life? I’m just stuck in bed, can’t breathe.’ That would make you worse. You spend the entire day having some form of panic attack. It’s awful because you don’t know why.

“I saw a doctor in London. My partner didn’t live far away so I was like: ‘Right, I’ll get up from my partner’s place and walk to the doctor.’ I did not even consider the fact this walk would be the hardest 15 minutes of my life. I sat on a bench outside, waiting. I was shaking, couldn’t breathe, on my own. This had happened before but I didn’t know what it was. All of a sudden it was more normal than a normal day,” she further added.

In 2021, English Countryside Sussex named Sarah to their men’s team coaching staff for their next season as well. The London-born cricketer is a triple World Champion (WC 2009, 2017 and T20 WC 2009) and has played for England in 226 games across formats. She has done 232 dismissals, more than any woman cricketer. She retired as England’s third-highest run-getter in ODIs with 4,056 runs from 126 games which came at an average of 38.26 including 20 half-centuries and seven centuries.

Sarah Taylor is also England’s second-highest run-getter in T20I cricket and seventh overall. She scored 2,177 runs from 90 matches which came at an average of 29.02 including 16 half-centuries. She has also represented England in 10 Tests scoring 300 runs as well.