Big-hitting American Taylor stitching his way to the top
dubai — Steven Taylor has shades of the mighty West Indian Chris Gayle. He is tall, bats left-handed and can bludgeon the ball out of the park. And he also has Jamaican roots, like the ‘Universe Boss.’
And while he does admire Gayle, Taylor idolizes none other than West Indian batting legend Brian Charles Lara.
Taylor is one of the few homegrown American players who have taken to the sport that is cricket, rather than seek a career in basketball, baseball or American football.
And taught by his father Sylvan, a left-handed batsman and left-arm spinner, Taylor is taking some big leaps and making a career out of it.
Taylor is currently part of the US squad which is touring the UAE and has been quite impressive in two outings — the rained off firstever T20 International for their country, on Friday, and the second fixture on Saturday.
The 25-year-old, who lives in Florida, blitzed a 39-ball 72 in the first game and then followed it up with 49 from 40 deliveries in a losing cause on Saturday.
It could have been an historic win had the US pulled off the 183run chase but Taylor corrects us by saying that his country had already written history against Canada.
After the first match of WT20 America Sub Regional tournament was decided through a Super Over, the US chased down 173 with Taylor smoking an unbeaten 96 from 54 balls with a whopping seven sixes and five boundaries, last September.
“It actually wouldn’t be historic,” Taylor said in a chat.
“I had done it before against Canada in Raleigh a couple of months ago so, I was looking to really finish the game (against the UAE),” he added.
Talking about his entry into the sport, Taylor said: “Both my parents are from Jamaica so growing up in the States, every Sunday my father used to go to cricket. So, every day, I used to see him put on his whites and I used to wonder where was he going. I used to follow him and I started liking the game more and more. And more I went, the more passion I had for it.”
Taylor likes to go for the big hits and while he likes Gayle, the one he looks up to is Lara. “Yes Chris Gayle but the main one would be Brian Charles Lara, the great,” he giggled and said. Taylor is one of three homegrown players apart from Elmore Hutchinson and Aaron Jones and he said it was good to see US cricket flourish.
“There are a few of us here and it is a big, big warm feeling for me to see US cricket on this stage and hope we can reach the international stage. We are here on the international stage but hope we can reach Test status and ODI status,” said Taylor, who is now their highest run-getter.
“US cricket is moving in the right direction because the better we do right now, it will make the path for kids coming up and cricket growing in the United States. Right now, there is a stadium being built in Houston with eight astro turfs and one main stadium,” he added.