12 Facts about James Taylor: The Departing Silhouette

One of the most talented youngsters and considered as the future of English cricket, the 26 years old James Taylor announced a shocking retirement from the game. He had been forced to retire from cricket following the diagnosis of a serious heart condition. Taylor in his brief career had impressed a lot of people not only with his batting skills but also as a good close-in fielder. Here we present to you some facts about James Taylor and relatively short career.

1. Birth:

James William Arthur Taylor was born on 6th January 1990. His birthplace was in a village in Leicestershire in England. His father was a national hunt jockey.

2. Height factor:

Standing 5 feet 6 inches tall, Taylor is known for his diminutive height. He is one of the shortest cricketers to have played English county cricket. He often insisted that his height never affected his batting.

3. County debut:

In his early teens, Taylor had links to the Worcestershire academy and played for his local team Loughborough Town and Shrewsbury School. At the age of 18, he was included in Leicestershire’s 12-man squad. During that time, he was still studying for his A-levels but was given permission to play.

4. Feats achieved:

He made major impressions in his first county season. He became the youngest Leicestershire to score a century in a one-day game. He also became the youngest to score a first-class double century.

5. U19 World Cup:

Taylor was selected in the England squad for the 2008 U19 World Cup which was held in Malaysia. Despite a poor campaign by England, Taylor scored 200 runs in the series with a top score of 52 not out against Ireland.

6. ODI debut for England:

He was included in the England squad against Ireland in August 2011. He made his debut alongside Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick. However, he could only manage to score 1 run in his debut match.

7. Test debut for England:

Taylor was brought in as a replacement for Ravi Bopara for the Test series against South Africa in 2012. He made his debut in the second Test where he scored 34 and batted with star batsman Kevin Pietersen in a partnership of 147 runs that helped England save the match.

8. Unique record:

He got out on 291 against Sussex, missing out on a triple century in first-class cricket. He also became the 29th batsman to be dismissed in the 290s in first-class cricket history.

9. Awards won:

In 2008, he was the second winner of the Wisden Schools, Cricketer of the year award following Jonny Bairstow. He continued to have a wonderful 2009 and was voted young cricketer of the year by the Cricket Writers’ Club.

10. World Cup 2015:

Taylor put up some impressive performance in the World Cup. Although he was inconsistent he scored a fighting innings of 98* against Australia in the World Cup opener. He fought a lone battle with the bat for England in the game. He missed out on a deserving century as the last man Anderson was run out in a controversial manner. It was later deemed by the ICC as an incorrect decision.

11. Recent performance :

He was at his peak in the last two series he played against Australia and Pakistan. He averaged 56.43 which included his first century and two half centuries alongside 3 scores in the 40s. He was in a consistent phase throughout both the series.

12. Man of the match awards:

He won 3 player of the match awards, all of them last year. The first instance being against India and later in the Australia and Pakistan series.