Lots of encouragement to take back despite series loss, says Stafanie Taylor

T20I series against England 0-5. Despite the disappointment, captain Stafanie Taylor is taking a lot of encouragement from the series which she feels is needed in order to improve going forward.

“A bit of both actually. We lost the series 5-0 it’s not ideal, but encouraged in a sense that having five or six coaches, we have responded to them,” Taylor said at the post-match virtual press conference after the final game. “Having players also growing in the sense that they got to spend a long time. That’s important because we need to improve in areas going forward.”

Unlike the first four games, the fifth and final game on Wednesday (September 30) was reduced to a five-over encounter. Batting first, West Indies put up 41/3 with Deandra Dottin (11), Taylor (15 not out) and Natasha McLean (14 not out) scoring the bulk of the runs.

ALSO READ: Heather Knight delighted with the clean sweep as ‘bizarre summer’ comes to an end

In reply, the hosts were in dire straits slumping to 25/5 at one stage with Shamilia Connell (3/14) doing most of the damage. However, England romped home with three balls to spare in a thrilling contest. “It was really exciting. It’s the first time I have actually played a five-over game. I think the energy was really good in the field,” Taylor added.

“The fearlessness was really good too when we were batting, we were positive in intent. It’s a pity that we didn’t win. You can always look back and think you could do this and you could do that but, in a five-over game things happen. The opposition always looks to take twos and boundaries. I thought we did really well in the field.

“That last over from (Shakera) Selman, I think it was a lot more than we expected. With two no balls, it was not ideal,” said Taylor, owner of 3000-plus T20I runs. Asked if West Indies met the objectives they had set before the series, the 29-year-old agreed to some extent.

ALSO READ: Players from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, England, West Indies to play Women’s T20 Challenge

“In some ways, yes. Batters would have had their goals. Some probably didn’t get theirs. We knew that would be coming into England’s backyard and it wouldn’t be an easy tour,” she said. “We had a few weeks of training. We practised really hard. It was one of the tours that didn’t go our way.

“We had a look at some young players, something we had talked about trying to integrate the younger players as well. In some areas the objectives worked,” added Taylor. The skipper also said she is also proud of her team.

“I am very proud (of the team). When you look at the year, we were not sure if we would be having any tour coming up. So when the chance came we just took it because you want to play some cricket. We knew what the challenges would be like. Nevertheless, we wanted to come here and play some good cricket,” concluded Taylor.