James Taylor Makes Most of Chance to Impress for England

It took the suspension of another player to get him in the team, but James Taylor did not waste the opportunity that finally came his way to represent England again.

Selected to replace skipper Alastair Cook, who was serving a one-match ban for slow over-rate issues, Taylor made 90 in the fourth ODI of the seven-match series against Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Batting at three, he found himself in early to replace Alex Hales and made a rather cautious start in his first international innings in over a year.

However, he suddenly picked up the tempo when coming down the pitch to Thisara Perera and launching the Sri Lanka seamer over the boundary at long-on for the first of his two sixes.

The shot was a calculated risk that caught everyone by surprise as they tried to cope with stifling temperatures in Colombo, and in the end the conditions rather wore Taylor down. Sapped of energy after two-and-a-half hours out in the middle, he was caught tamely at cover off the bowling of Ajantha Mendis.

At that stage England were 170-4, and despite stand-in skipper Eoin Morgan making 62, they rather lost their way late on.

A final total of 265 didn’t ever look to be enough, and the hosts managed to surpass England’s score with six wickets and two balls to spare to go 3-1 ahead with three games left to play.

At least Taylor’s innings, which spanned 109 deliveries, was a real positive to take out of yet another 50-over defeat for England. It also makes for an interesting selection meeting ahead of the next ODI, which takes place in Pallekele on Wednesday.

To those who have been fortunate to see the diminutive right-hander in action during the domestic season for Nottinghamshire, his display won’t have come as a surprise.

In the Royal London One-Day Cup—the county 50-over competition—he scored 444 runs in seven matches at an average of 88.80 as per Cricinfo, including an unbeaten 146 against Derbyshire in September.

Still, the 5'6” Taylor could be forgiven for feeling constantly overlooked by the selectors.

The 24-year-old had seemingly been on the cusp of international recognition for much of the last two years, yet never quite found his way into the final XI.

He did not get too downhearted at being made to wait, though. Instead he did all he could to show he was ready, including making runs while guesting for Sussex in a tour match against the Australians in 2013.

Now, over three years on from his ODI debut against Ireland and in just his third appearance, the former Leicestershire player has made a strong case for an extended run in the team, potentially right through to the World Cup in 2015.