Taylor looks forward to Grace Road return

By Dave Bracegirdle

There will be a homecoming for Nottinghamshire’s James Taylor on the opening evening of this season’s Friends Life t20 tournament.

Taylor, who moved across the East Midlands from Leicestershire during the winter, returns to Grace Road to face his former county - the FLt20 holders, of course.

“I had a special time there,” said the 22-year-old England Lions batsman. “And the supporters were amazing to me but I’m sure there’ll be a mixed reception when I go back as some punters will have been unhappy about me leaving.”

The batsman played a key role in the Foxes success last season and admits his former side almost crept under the radar on their way to the Finals Day success.

“We were always underdogs – pretty much all the way through the tournament. Nobody expected us to do very well and it was nice to creep around the outside and surprise people when it really mattered.”

Taylor’s new county are yet to lift the Twenty20 Cup crown and the young batsman hopes his exploits of a year ago can inspire his new team-mates.

“I have experience of winning on Finals Day and going to the Champions League. I enjoyed playing T20 in foreign conditions and showing a different audience what I could do. I got some runs against Trinidad (56 not out) and it was nice to play against international opposition.

“Unfortunately we didn’t go so well in that tournament but again it’s another experience that I can take little snippets from that and hopefully bring them into the Notts dressing room.”

Taylor won’t be alone when he returns to Leicester on Tuesday evening, as another former Grace Road player, Harry Gurney, will also be in the Nottinghamshire line-up.

“The supporters were great with both of us but we’re both excited to go back and play and I guess both of us want to stamp our authority on the game.

“We know this is a very strong group and will be very competitive. There are six games less to play this season, so every game becomes more important and you can’t afford to slip up in too many. Hopefully we can get momentum from the first game and take it through the rest of the tournament.”


Date: 11/06/2012 21:42:18 by Dave Bracegirdle
In: Today | Nottinghamshire | Leicestershire |