'I can't believe I am now part of Wisden club'

It was quite a shock – but the best kind of shock – to find out that I had been named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year. Scyld Berry interviewed me for the article before Christmas, but I was sworn to secrecy so it is a great thrill to finally be able to tell people, writes Claire Taylor in the Telegraph.

At that stage, I was still living with my mum, because I had no job and no income, which wasn't great for a 30-year-old. We worked out that I needed a better balance in my life, and I was lucky enough to find a post at a company called SUMS Consulting, which advises universities on how to improve their administration. I also took up the violin again, which was something I hadn't done since university. I have since played for Reading Symphony Orchestra and for the Aldworth Philharmonic – which actually suit me better as it only plays four big concerts a year, and that fits in really well with my cricket.

When I watched Claire Taylor at the age of 22 make one run from 14 balls on her England debut against Australia at Southampton in 1998, there was no hint that the chess-loving, violin-playing, Oxford maths graduate was up and running towards world domination, writes former England player Sarah Potter in the Times.