West Indies Women’s Captain Stafanie Taylor was named the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Twenty20 International Player of the Year recently.
The 24-year-old Jamaican, presently in Australia campaigning in the Women’s Big Bash for Sydney Thunder, has been the leading batsman in world cricket in recent years and is currently installed sixth in the ICC Twenty20 rankings and number four in One-Day Internationals.
Taylor, who won the ICC One-Day Internationals Players of the Year award in 2011 and 2012, said the honor was a surprise and she was elated to win it.
“Winning an award is an added motivation to do better. We were dominant in our two series this year against Sri Lanka and against Pakistan and that is something to build on,” she said.
“Next year (2016), we will face South Africa and then on to India for the ICC World Twenty20. Those are two “big” series and I am fully geared up for what is to come,” Taylor added.
Taylor is the most successful women’s cricketer in West Indies history. She made her debut as a 16-year-old in 2008 and since then, has made more than 4,000 runs.
She is also a clever off-spinner and had taken 108 wickets in One-Day Internationals and 56 in Twenty20s.
She took over as West Indies captain last September and led by example with a Player of the Series performance as the West Indies beat Pakistan 3-0 in the Twenty20s and 3-1 in the One-Day Internationals, in a series in the Caribbean.
