Taylor’s heart still in cricket
THIS was not the middle order that James Taylor thought he would be named in this summer. Ant and Dec coming in before him, the Duke of Cambridge after.
We are talking about those who presented the prizes at Royal Ascot yesterday. And, just a week after surgery to fit an internal defibrillator, the former England batsman was here under the rain- spotted rostrum canopy handing over the goodies to Frankie Dettori and Co.
Taylor (right) was told in April that he had arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy — a tonguetwister that would have tested even Sir Peter O’Sullevan’s tonsils if it had popped up in the last furlong.
The Notts player’s career was over at 26, just after he had finally established himself in the international side.
Miserable? Fretting about the future? Cursing his ill fortune? Not a bit of it.
As girlfriend, Josephine, who got him to hospital in time to save his life when the illness struck, told me from under her fine hat: ‘He just gets on with things.’
Yesterday they had a slap-up meal in the Royal Enclosure — beef for mains. Taylor chomped it down, but has to take some precautions.
‘Put it this way, I can’t get p*****,’ he said. ‘ That’s not good for the heart rate, but I can have the odd glass.’
As for his general health, he is valiantly stoic. ‘Fine, just a bit sore after the surgery,’ is his bulletin. During the ceremonies, Taylor, a slim 5ft 6in, could pretty much go eye- to- eye with Dettori, whose leaping dismount from Lady Aurelia — winner of The Queen Mary Stakes — was captured on the former cricketer’s smart phone. Taylor rode until he was 17 but such was his promise as a cricketer at Shrewsbury School that he opted not to follow a family tradition. Father Steve was a National Hunt jockey before a hip injury ended his career in 1975. ‘My dad is now a starter and has been busy with that this week, which is why he can’t be here today,’ said Taylor. Once his health forced his retirement, Taylor had to ask: what of the future?
‘Cricket is my passion and I want to stay in it in some way,’ said Taylor, who is also raising money for the British Heart Foundation.
‘I am doing some broadcasting and find speaking to a camera easier — you know who you are speaking to — but the radio is a lot more fun than I expected.
‘I definitely want to try coaching, too.’
He has admired from afar his old England muckers and sees their 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka as a sign of future dominance against better sides.
Those former team-mates have been in touch regularly offering support.
And after performing the presentation, he was off to see one of those pals, wicketkeeperbatsman Jonny Bairstow.