Lord’s was a third full — that was frightening because we weren’t used to people: Clare Taylor

Clare Taylor played at the World Cup for England in football and cricket. She had a longer career in cricket, in which she claimed more than 100 international wickets with her pace bowling. The 61-year-old is now a part of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit. Excerpts from an interview Taylor gave The Hindu at Old Trafford, during the T20 Women’s World Cup:Your earliest memories of sport? Are they from football or cricket?Definitely football. Just where I lived, Huddersfield, we had a grass area. And I have to admit to being a Liverpool fan; we had players like Kevin Keegan, Terry McDermott…And later on, along came Ian Rush…Yes, Liverpool has had some great players. Where I lived, it was mainly boys that played. I joined them.What position did you start at?Centre-forward. Everyone wants to score goals. And then later on, just kept moving back and ended up as sweeper or centre-half, which I really liked. I think my one skill was reading the game.Who discovered your talent in football?Well, I got into the boys’ team at school. The Physical Education teacher, Ian Mackay, was the one who encouraged me. And then that was a big thing in the local paper, which had said, ‘Future Pele can’t play. She is a girl.’ Well, the local FA also said, ‘You can’t play. You are a girl. Because there is no insurance if you get injured.’ So my parents took out private insurance just so I could go and then I played for a team in Bradford. And then you just get selected for representative things.I moved from Bradford, where I played for Bronte Ladies. Then I moved from there to a team called Knowsley, which is near Liverpool. And with the start of the National League, Liverpool men’s team took over the running of Knowsley. So I ended up playing for Liverpool, which was like a highlight for me. So once that got, you know, a little bit more professional without being professional, that’s when I realised there was probably more opportunities.Cross fit: Football helped Taylor’s cricket. ‘I was fitter,’ she says. ‘The cricket team did the beep test, and girls were dropping out at five, which is like a quick walk. I was up at 11, 12.’