Full-time cricketer Claire Taylor

taylor , charlotte edwards (pictured) england s leading run-scorers between 2000 , 2010, accumulating on 3,000 runs each.

ahead of tour england women new zealand , australia, taylor competed in state league, one-day competition in new zealand, canterbury magicians. finished tournament in top-five batsmen, scoring 252 runs @ average of 42.00. unfortunately england, form did not continue international matches: in 7 odi matches, scored 87 runs. continued struggle @ start of 2003 english domestic season, prompting wisden report had barely scraped run in county championship matches. despite struggles, survived overhaul of england squad, in 7 of players had toured australia , new zealand had been dropped. repaid faith shown in her, striking centuries in both test matches against south africa. first, score of 177 runs, highest total made in test cricket, , scored on 6 , half hours, , twelve runs short of highest england woman. 2 weeks later, became 1 of 5 women, of 2012, have scored centuries in consecutive test matches, when scored 131 runs @ taunton. performances in odi series less eye-catching, half-century in first match helped finish second laura newton england s leading run-scorer.

taylor competed in state league second consecutive year in 2004, , finished second-most runs in competition, scoring 401 runs @ average of 44.55. new zealand, travelled south africa join england team 5 odis. after scoring 90 runs in warm-up contest against invitational xi, finished england s second prolific run-scorer behind edwards, though once reached half-century in international matches. in england 2004 super fours competition, taylor , edwards once more headed batting tables, taylor narrowly trailing international team mate in terms of runs scored, ahead of on batting average, having scored 351 runs @ 87.75. in subsequent series against new zealand, taylor top-scorer in first twenty20 international match played either gender. despite quicker-scoring nature of twenty20 game, taylor praised measured batting , placement. in odis, england possessed greater depth in batting, making team less reliant on taylor , edwards performances. depth helped them win series 3–2, despite low-scoring sequence of matches taylor in averaged below twenty.

in preparation 2005 women s cricket world cup in south africa, taylor played third , final season in state league, though 229 runs @ average of 38.16 lowest achieved in year of competition. during short warm-up series against south africa, enjoyed batting success, scoring 94 , 47 in 2 odis, , unbeaten 166 runs against side gauteng , north west. after first round of matches lost rain, taylor struck highest score of tournament in england s second match, against sri lanka. scored 136 runs 128 balls, , shared century partnerships both edwards , clare connor england record large victory. made little impact against india in next match, scored 55 not out against south africa , 46 against new zealand ensure england s qualification semi-finals. cricinfo reported australia undoubted favourites semi-final clash england, , taylor 1 of side s key players contest. after loss of laura newton, taylor dismissed third duck of odi career, , england subsided five-wicket loss. finished tournament 1 of top-three batsmen both runs-scored , average, aggregating 265 runs @ 53.00.