Cricket history was made this Saturday in the Adelaide suburbs where the

Sarah Taylor made history by becoming the first woman to appear in Australian first-grade cricket – and immediately earned a well-intended compliment from a member of the crowd.

Taylor, 26, has been playing with women’s side SA Scorpions and has impressed enough with her wicket-keeping and batting to earn a call for Northern Districts’ first two-day game of the season against Port Adelaide this weekend. This match is one of the South Australia’s top men’s competition.

Catch a video of her in training for England below.

Speaking with cricket.com.au on Thursday, the 26-year-old said she was “nervous and excited” about making her debut.

‘In women’s cricket, I stand back for Katherine Brunt and the first few overs from Anya Shrubsole, but the rest of the time I’m standing up to the stumps’.

Taylor isn’t a newcomer to the game; before her A-grade career began, she had already played in eight tests, 73 Big Bash matches and nearly a hundred one-day internationals. “I have grown up playing boys cricket at Brighton College and more recently in the European Central Bank men’s premier league for Walmley CC, so I am used to playing with the guys”. The competition which Sarah is going to play was started in 1897. “I was technically good and pace [on the ball] wasn’t an issue at all”. Sarah Taylor was the first female cricketer achieving this feat from England.

The two-day event is the highest level of cricket played in South Australia outside first-class cricket and Taylor hopes she will be a pioneer. Former Australian Women’s Team Captain Karen Rolton featured in several B and C grade matches for Port Adelaide. “As the women’s game becomes increasingly professional there are more opportunities than ever before for elite female players”, he said.

Pat Howard, Cricket Australia’s team performance manager, said Taylor was ready for the challenge.