Sarah Taylor Named England's Fielding Coach for New Zealand Test Series

Former wicketkeeper Sarah Taylor will serve as England's fielding coach for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand. She becomes the first woman to coach an England men's side in a major sport.

Taylor, 36, played 226 times for England from 2006 to 2019. She ranks among the game's top wicketkeepers.

She has coached men's cricket with Sussex, Manchester Originals and England Lions, including this winter.

"She's one of the best in the business at what she does," said England's managing director of men's cricket Rob Key. "She's been outstanding, and she's worked a lot with Lions head coach Andrew Flintoff and performance director Ed Barney. They can't speak highly enough of her. So from what we can see, she's one of the best in the business."

Taylor fills in for Carl Hopkinson, who rejoined the England setup for white-ball cricket earlier this year but is now with Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

Key indicated that both he and Taylor will keep working with the team going forward.

In an interview with BBC Sport last winter, Taylor said: "I still am not someone who wants the limelight, I just want to be good at my job. That's how I want to go about my coaching really. I love being a trailblazer but without the attention. I want to see how far I can go, and work with some of the best players that I can."

The first Test against New Zealand starts at Lord's on June 4. It marks England's return to the format after a poor Ashes performance.

England faced criticism for a lax setup in Australia, where they lacked a fielding coach. Dropped catches at key moments drew heavy scrutiny. The tour also sparked talk of excessive alcohol use, raising doubts about the team's professionalism, tactics and the roles of Key and coach Brendon McCullum.

A curfew introduced for the January white-ball tour of Sri Lanka will stay in effect for the New Zealand series.

McCullum, who took time off after the T20 World Cup ended in March, will join the first-Test squad for a three-day training camp in Loughborough starting May 25. The group includes bowler Ollie Robinson and uncapped players James Rew, Emilio Gay and Sonny Baker.

Former New Zealand bowler Tim Southee will skip the camp but return as bowling coach for the series against his old team.

Key, asked what changes with him and McCullum still in place, replied: "What we want is to have players to go out and play their best game. It doesn't mean there's one way of playing, where you go out and play shots. I spoke to Emilio Gay this morning and said 'go and play your best game don't worry about anything else.' Work out how you are going to take on that bowling attack at Lord's, work out conditions and your best way to score. The same for everyone else. You do not want to see what has made Harry Brook go to number one in the world change. You just want him to refine."