Sarah Taylor to make comeback with Welsh Fire in the Hundred

FORMER England women's player Sarah Taylor will be playing cricket again as she joins Welsh Fire for the inaugural season of The Hundred.

One of the best wicketkeepers of all time, Taylor was part of the England sides that won the Twenty20 and 50-overs World Cups in 2009.

The 31-year-old featured for England in 226 matches, which included 10 Tests, 126 ODIs and 90 T20Is. She retired in 2019 after a battle with anxiety.

"There's been a real buzz about The Hundred, and especially the women's competition," Taylor said in an England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) statement.

"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."

The franchise-based league starts on July 21, with the launch of the inaugural edition getting postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first game, Oval Invincibles takes on Manchester Originals.

The women's season of the ECB's franchise-based league begins with Oval Invincibles meeting Manchester Originals on July 21, a day before the men's competition begins.

Several top women's players, including Meg Lanning (Fire), Sophie Molineux (Trent Rockets) and Alyssa Healy (Northern Superchargers) have signed up for the tournament.

Moreover, ECB has invested heavily in The Hundred, a competition it hopes will attract younger audiences to the sport. Matches will comprise 100 balls per innings with a change of ends after 10 deliveries.