Day 74: Taylor and Sussex fit like a glove

Today Sarah Taylor was announced as the new Sussex wicketkeeping coach. It is a fantastic appointment and continues the Sussex coaching team's trend of finding good coaches and coaches who have a passion for the club they have represented as players.

A World Cup winner in 2017, Taylor has been an outstanding servant for both England and Sussex over her career. She will now be working with the Sussex men's first team and the Sussex pathway players.

 Taylor played 226 times for England and soon became recognised as one of the world's best keepers.

She will join head coaches James Kirtley and Ian Sailsbury, both of whom played for Sussex and England in their playing careers.

 When Taylor was just 23, there were rumours that she could have played a handful of games Sussex men's second XI. It didn't happen, but there was no doubting that Taylor was good enough. A few years later, she would go on to play men's grade cricket in Australia.

When I interviewed Taylor for Women's CricZone back in 2019, she said, "This is where I grew up; this is my home essentially. The support we have at Sussex is unbelievable."

That is the type of person that Sussex are looking for to drive them forward. When they were at their most successful, they were lead by people that got the idea of what it meant to play for Sussex and go out there and make them winners.

While much will be made of the fact that Taylor is the first female coach in the men's game, she is there on merit.

 Having come through the system at the same time as first-team captain Ben Brown, both know each other well and the levels of respect is huge.

 I expect it to be the start of something special, and Sussex will continue their long tradition of producing fine wicketkeepers for years to come.