Taylor becomes first female in cricket's hall of fame

London, Oct 19 (UNI) England batswoman Claire Taylor conquered an all-male-bastion by becoming the first female cricketer to feature on a hall of fame board at Lord's.

Taylor's unbeaten 156 against India in August this year is the top ODI score at Lord's bettering 138 by Sir Vivian Richards in 1979.

''And for them to take down Viv Richards' board and put mine up -- it's brilliant,'' Talor told BBC Sport.

''Everyone who goes to Lord's will see it and the profile of women's cricket will be raised accordingly,'' she remarked.

Taylor's heroics helped England trounce India by 100 runs in a series they went on to win 4-0.

''It was a great day, but to start with it was disappointing weather. I didn't have the best of starts to my innings but I decided to take it by the scruff of the neck and try to dominate and it came off,'' said the batswoman, who hit nine boundaries in her Lord's century.

Taylor now eagerly awaits England's tour to India to play a four-nation tournament early in 2007, also featuring Australia and New Zealand.

''We were there (in India) last winter and didn't have a great time,'' Taylor recalled.

''We lost the one-day series 4-1 and drew the only Test but we should be better prepared this time,'' she said.

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