For Nottinghamshire,
it was a major coup to win the hotly contested race for the signature of James
Taylor, one of the most highly regarded young batsmen in the country and someone
who for a while now has been earmarked for a place in the senior England
set-up, particularly in the longer form of the game. The diminutive
ex-Leicestershire batsman has an idiosyncratic technique; crucially, however,
he possesses the steely temperament and ability to think on his feet that marks
out the best players. A winter leading England Lions in the Subcontinent has
seen him bank much valuable experience, if not quite as many runs as he might
have liked, and he now looks ahead at his first season playing Division One County
Championship cricket. We caught up with him just prior to the season for a
brief chat about the recent past in Asia, as well as the near future with
Notts, as the former Fox looked forward to life as a Stag…
Looking back over the
scorecards from the one-day series in Bangladesh ,
I was struck by how low-scoring the games were, especially in comparison with
the series in Sri Lanka
They weren’t the best pitches, but they also weren’t the
worst. We should have applied ourselves better as batsmen and scored more runs.
But, foreign conditions, something totally different, and it was a young squad, so that’s going to
happen sometimes and unfortunately it did. That’s the reason why we lost the
series against Bangladesh [3-2],
but we pulled it back against Sri
Lanka and played well.
Given the widely
reported troubles of England ’s
senior players against spin in the UAE, is Asia
the best place for young English batters to winter in terms of development?
Definitely. It’s only going to help us in the future. We’re
all young players and all aspiring to play at the top level for England , so
it’s definitely going to benefit our game playing against spin in those tough
conditions out there.
Was there anything specific
you learnt about playing spin, be that technical, mental, or about gameplans?
Yeah, just that the execution has to be spot on. Every shot
you play you just have to nail it that bit more. In England you’ve got a bit of leeway,
I think, whereas over there some balls spin, some balls go straight on, and
it’s a bit slower as well, so execution has to be spot on or you’re going to
come unstuck. That’s the thing that I found.
Sort of sits in the
pitch a bit…
Yeah, exactly. We did a lot of work on playing spin with
Graham Thorpe and he’s obviously had a lot of experience out there which definitely
helped all the young players.
Do you feel that one
of the problems we’ve traditionally had against spin is that certain modes of
dismissal are perceived as ‘worse’ ways of getting out – I’m talking about
being stumped, really – and that affects the way people play, with batters
perhaps becoming creasebound and getting a bit stuck?
I suppose you could look at it like that but it certainly
doesn’t apply to me. I go up the crease and back in the crease, so I’m not
really too worried about getting stumped. I use my feet a lot and sweep a lot,
so those options are there. But, speaking personally, I don’t worry about it
too much.
How was the
experience as captain? Did it affect your game adversely?
Well, I captained quite a lot in England last year, both
with the Lions and with Leicestershire, and my scores were a lot better as
captain than when I wasn’t, so I’m not going to use that as an excuse why I
didn’t score as many runs as I wanted out in the subcontinent. It was tough
work, but I enjoy captaincy and relish the opportunity I’ve been given to
captain the Lions, especially at such a young age, and I grew into it. I’ve
obviously got more experience now and I got a lot more confidence, the more I
did it.
I’m sure there were
several counties after your signature. Why did you choose Notts?
Notts was just an obvious choice for me at this stage – it
was time for me to look for a new challenge and I thought Notts was perfect for
that. The facilities here are quality. It’s a great team, pushing for
silverware in all competitions. And the ground’s quality. I’ve got fond
memories of playing here. I know the coaches. So it was just an obvious move,
and not too big a move from Leicestershire. I’ve got a place up here, which is
nice. It means I can walk into the ground when I want, and it’s a great area
and a great club to be at.
Did Trent Bridge
Not really. Like I said, I was up for a new challenge and
the more runs I score here – which is deemed to be a seamer-friendly wicket –
the better it’s going to look for me. And I think it’s going to help my game,
the more pace and bounce there is.
How were Notts viewed
as opponents when you were at Leicestershire?
I only played them in one-day and Twenty20 cricket and
they’re always tough opposition, always up there in all formats of the game, a
tough unit with a great work ethic, as I’ve seen from my brief stint here so
far.
Leicestershire won
the T20 last season (and 3 times in total). What advice would you give the
Notts lads to help them go those couple of steps further?
I’m not sure if I can give them too much advice, to be
honest, as the new boy coming into the dressing room. But I think it’s just
about gameplans. That’s what we did at Leicester :
everyone nailed their role. We had lots of matchwinners – different
matchwinners in different games. Everyone won a game for us, so that’s
something I can tell the guys here at Notts.
Ultimately, you left Leicestershire
to play Division One. Hypothetically, if Notts had a terrible season and went
down, would that affect what you do?
Oh no, not at all. Not at all. It’s a great club. I’m looking
to get better and better as a player and I think this is a place where I can do
that. We’ve got some great coaches, as I said, and great senior players in the
team. There’s also good young talent coming through so Notts are in a great
place at the moment and it’s where I want to be.
What are your
personal targets for the season?
To score heavily in all forms of the game, to be consistent,
and not worry about anything else to be honest – just taking things one game at
a time and not getting too distracted by any England ambitions. Concentrating on
my own game and winning games for Nottinghamshire.
This interview first appeared on LeftLion's website
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