Born on January 6, 1990 in Nottingham, James William Arthur Taylor is considered as one of the most exciting prospects to emerge from England. A right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm leg break bowler, Taylor, made his debut in First-Class cricket in 2008 and made a fine impression in his first County season. In 2009, Taylor became the youngest Leicestershire batsman to complete 1,000 championship runs in a season.

At 5’5”, Taylor is one of the shortest cricketers currently playing in the domestic scene. He feels that his height can be used to good effect while playing the horizontal-bat shots. Taylor made his debut for Leicestershire at the tender age of 18 still in his school. He was a part of the England Under-19 team that took part in the 2008 World Cup held in Malaysia.

With runs behind him, Taylor is on the threshold of becoming a permanent entity in the England Test squad for the future. After a slow start, Taylor enjoyed his breakthrough year in 2009, scoring runs across all the three formats of the game. He was named the Cricket Writer's Club Young Cricketer of the year and that was followed by the Professional Cricketer's association Young player of the year award. He also earned a place in the England Lions team that toured UAE in January 2010. He was named as the skipper of the England Lions in 2011 for the series against Sri Lanka 'A' and was considered unlucky at not having replaced an injured Jonathan Trott during the summer's series against India. However, a Test cap came his way against the visiting South Africans in 2012 and he made his debut at Leeds in August 2012. He played just one game after that and unfortunately, has not managed to break into the England Test side since then. The story wasn't too different either, when it came to the ODIs. Taylor played just two games against Ireland, one each in 2011 and 2013. Having spent three years at Leicestershire until 2011, Taylor moved to Nottinghamshire in 2012 and has been an integral part of the side.

Successful stints with Nottinghamshire and England Lions saw Taylor being recalled to the ODI side for the tour of Sri Lanka. The right-hander continued his fine form, scoring 90 in his first comeback match for England. He followed that up with another fifty in the very next game. In the tri-series in Australia, he has been a consistent performer and looks set to bat at No.3 for England in the World Cup.

Interesting fact: James Taylor is the youngest Leicestershire batsman to have scored a century in One Day cricket and a double century in FC cricket.

By Pradeep Krishnamurthy and Akshay Maanay
As of January 2015