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James William Arthur Taylor (born 6 January 1990, Burrough on the Hill, Leicestershire) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm leg break bowler, Taylor made his debut in first-class cricket in 2008 and made major impressions in his first county seasons. He became the youngest Leicestershire one-day centurion and first-class double centurion. In 2009, Taylor also became the youngest player in Leicestershire's history to score 1,000 championship runs in a season.

Early life
Taylor was born in Burrough on the Hill, a small village in Leicestershire. Taylor's father, Steve is a former National Hunt jockey who is now a race starter after injury forced him to retire. Taylor is known for his diminutive height being only five feet five inches tall, he is one of the shortest cricketers in the English game. Taylor says that his batting is not weakened by his height saying that "It’s good for hooking, and less can go wrong with my feet movement. I use it to my advantage as I like to cut and pull. As I have grown up I have embraced it". Taylor attended Shrewsbury School where he studied his A-Levels as well as playing for the cricket team.

Debut and Beginnings
Prior to his debut, Taylor, in his early teens, had links to the Worcestershire academy. He also played for his local team Loughborough Town and his Shrewsbury School team. For Loughborough Town he made the headlines as an 18 year old for a record breaking innings where he made 202 not out. This was only the second time that a player had reached a double century in Everards League top flight.

At the age of 18, Taylor was included in the 12 man squad to face Worcestershire at New Road in April 2008. At the time he was still an A-Level pupil at Shrewsbury School and was given permission to play. Then Leicestershire coach, Tim Boon had said that the selection of Taylor in the squad was dependent on the New Road pitch and if it merited an extra batsman. Taylor was selected and batted at 7. He made 8 in his first and only innings before being trapped lbw by Kabir Ali. . The game ended in a draw, as both teams were frustrated by the weather. He made his Twenty20 debut along with teammate Sam Cliff at the County Ground in a seven wicket defeat against Derbyshire. Despite two late victories, including a win in the reverse fixture against Derbyshire at Grace Road, where Taylor contributed 10, Leicestershire finished bottom of the respective group in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup. Taylor made only his second first-class appearance in a 3-day tour match against Bangladesh A as part of their 2008 tour of England. In this drawn match Taylor made his maiden half century of 51 from 109 balls before being caught off Shakib Al Hasan. Taylor completed his Leicestershire one day season in 2008 with two Natwest pro40 games against Derbyshire and Surrey. He top scored with 43 not out in a narrow 6 run victory against Derbyshire and hit 37 in a loss against Surrey before being caught off youngster Stuart Meaker to end his Leicestershire season on a high.

2009 - Breakthrough
Taylor was awarded the Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year for his 898 runs for Shrewsbury School in 2008, at an average of 179.60. The award also recognised his Youth International appearances and his County matches. Taylor played for Leicestershire against the West Indies as part of their 2009 tour of England but struggled, recording scores of just four and five in a 3-day drawn match. Taylor was selected to play in his first County Championship match of 2009 against Middlesex on 28 April. In the first innings Taylor made eight before being caught off the bowling of Neil Dexter. In the second innings he scored his maiden first-class century, in his seventh game scoring 122 not out to help save the match and earn a draw. He followed up this performance with a match winning innings in the Friends Provident Trophy against Worcestershire on 12 May. Taylor achieved his maiden first-class one-day century scoring 101 before being run out by Matthew Mason, winning the player of the match award. This performance saw him become Leicestershire's youngest ever player to score a one-day century, taking the record from former England and Leicestershire star, David Gower. The innings garnered much media attention with Leicestershire's then coach, Tim Boon declaring Taylor to have the talent to become a "star" and of having "so much potential". Despite an above average performance in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup Leicestershire were to miss qualification for the next rounds only by one point, losing out to Durham. On 31 July, Taylor was selected for the county game against Surrey. On 1 August Taylor scored an unbeaten double century against Surrey, scoring 207 not out, spending seven hours at the crease, whilst sharing an unbeaten partnership of 230 runs with Jacques Du Toit who also made a century as Leicestershire declared on 593/5. Taylor became the youngest Leicestershire player to score a double century. In a first-class match against Essex at Chelmsford. Taylor scored his third first-class century of his career with a knock of 112 not out, in the first innings as well as scoring a further 62 runs in the second innings to earn a draw for Leicestershire. The knock was praised in particular for his play and survival against the spin of Pakistan International bowler Danish Kaneria who claimed eight wickets in Leicestershire's first innings and twelve in the match. The knock proving his worth against a quality spinner on a spinning pitch. . In the second innings of this match Taylor surpassed 1000 runs for the season making him the youngest player to achieve this feat for Leicestershire. Taylor's good form helped him push for an England Lions in the winter. Despite Taylor's good form throughout the season, where he scored 1207 runs in 17 first-class matches for Leicestershire in 2008, hitting three centuries and six half-centuries at an average of 57.47, coming sixth for the amount of runs scored in Division two that season. Leicestershire still finished at the bottom of Division two in the County Championship making it a disappointing season where eleven of the sixteen games were drawn. In September 2009 he was named the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year, ahead of Stuart Broad. In October, he was also named the Professional Cricketers' Association Young Player of the Year. Taylor's breakthrough season in 2008 helped him gain inclusion in the winter England Performance Program. He was also named in the England Lions in January 2010 to travel to the UAE, Taylor declared he was "thrilled" by the opportunity and also said that he had coaching sessions with Dene Hills and Graham Gooch. In November 2009, Taylor signed a 3-year contract extension with Leicestershire keeping him at the club until 2012.

2010
Leicestershire began the 2010 County Championship against Northamptonshire, Leicestershire winning by six wickets, with Taylor hitting 88 in the first innings Taylor then went through a poor run, not scoring above 50 in the County Championship for six first-class games meaning that he hit one first-class half century for 14 innings for Leicestershire. In May, in a pro40 match against Warwickshire he hit 92 not out in 77 balls in a losing cause in a rain affected match. In the County Championship, Taylor returned to form hitting his second unbeaten double-century of his career with a total of 206 not out against Middlesex. He shared a 360 run partnership with teammate Andrew McDonald which is a record fourth wicket partnership for Leicestershire and it was just 30 runs for the all time Leicestershire partnership. The pair took just 73 overs to compile the runs and it was the first time in the 2010 season that Leicestershire were able to gain all five batting points. In June, Taylor hit his then highest T20 score against Yorkshire, he scored 60 from 42 balls in a 9 wicket loss. Taylor also hit successive T20 half-centuries on the 25 and 27 June against Lancashire and Yorkshire. He hit 61 and 62 not out respectively, against Yorkshire he beat his previous highest score in T20 which he made also against Yorkshire seven days previous. Taylor's form continued during the T20 season as six days later he also hit another unbeaten half-century against Nottinghamshire. On 25 July Taylor made his second List A century against Warwickshire. Taylor made 103 not out in a losing cause, also in this match Taylor took four wickets to earn his best one day bowling figures of 4-61. On 9 August, Taylor hit his fifth first-class century against Middlesex, three of which have been against Middlesex, as he hit 106 not out in a drawn match. Taylor ended the season with his sixth century this time against Northamptonshire as he hit 156 before being caught off the bowling of David Burton. Taylor finished the county season with 1095 runs in 18 first-class matches at an average of 43.80. Taylor was again, like last season, selected for the England Lions tour of West Indies in January 2011.

2011
Taylor played in the first game of Leicestershire's 2011 County Championship season against Glamorgan scoring 45 and 14 as Leicestershire won by 89 runs. In April, Taylor played in a University match against Loughborough where he scored his third double century with a score of 237, making it is highest first-class score. Also, with teammate Shiv Thakor put on a record 330 runs for the fifth record meaning that Taylor now holds Leicestershire records for the fourth and fifth wicket partnerships. Thakor was quick to acknowledge Taylor for his calming influence on him. On 1 May, Taylor scored his third one day century, a score of 101 against Warwickshire before being bowled by Chris Woakes. in 2011, Taylor's commitments to the England Lions set up meant that his commitments were often split, he played for the lions against Sri Lanka. His next considerable contribution for the Leicestershire set up was a county game against Kent where he made scores of 49 in the first innings and 96 in the second in a Leicester defeat. Taylor was appointed England Lions captain for the 2011 series against Sri Lanka A team. Taylor scored 168 not out in a England Lions match against Sri Lanka A. Taylor's impressive knocks for the lions, meant that, when Jonathan Trott was injured in the second test against India, many were calling for Taylor to be called up to the full squad to play at Edgbaston. England test player Ravi Bopara was called up. Taylor wasn't too disheartened and in 12 August made 106 whilst captaining the England lions to victory against Sri Lanka in a one day match. Taylor was the subject of a controversial approach from Warwickshire to try and sign him. Leicestershire have confirmed they would like to keep the player however if the move is made Taylor's wages are reported to increase and he would be playing cricket in Division one hence improving his chances of and England call up. Leicestershire's captain Matthew Hoggard has criticised the approach labelling Warwickshire "rude" and accusing Warwickshire of using their money to attract players.

Youth International Career and England Lions
Taylor was first selected for the England Under-19 cricket team whilst at Worcestershire as part of the performance program in September 2007 to play one day matches against second XI teams. Taylor top scored with 65 not out in a victory for England against Gloucestershire second XI. He was then selected in a tri-nations U-19 series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. England were to miss out on reaching the final, which was eventually won by Pakistan, Taylor hit his highest score of 43 against Sri Lanka in an English defeat. In February 2008 Taylor was selected to participate in the 2008 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, held in Malaysia. Despite a poor campaign by England, Taylor went on to score 200 runs in the series with a top score of 52 not out against Ireland U-19 in a 10 wicket victory opening with Billy Godleman. In July 2008, Taylor was chosen again to face New Zealand U-19 in five one day matches. As well as being chosen to play in the 2009 England U-19 tour of South Africa. England played two Youth Test matches, five one-day matches and two T20 Youth matches. England were defeated in all three genres of the game. Taylor did however secure a win for England in the third ODI as he scored 85 to claw England a way back into the series at 1-2.

Taylor was first selected for the England Lions in February 2010 to play in the UAE against Pakistan A. Taylor hit a half-century of 61 in the second ODI helping England to a three wicket victory, levelling the series at 1-1. Taylor played two matches for England Lions in June 2010 against India A hitting 24 and 19 not out. In February 2011 Taylor was picked for the England Lions tour of West Indies where they would play four-day matches against Barbados, Combined Campuses and Colleges, Guyana, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and Windward Islands. Taylor kicked off the tour with a score of 82 opening the innings in a drawn warm-up match against St Kitts and Nevis. He followed this up by hitting 96 against Leeward Islands as England won by an innings and 120 runs. In the following game against Barbados Taylor made his seventh first-class century, scoring 186 in a drawn match. Taylor enjoyed a successful series scoring over 600 runs for the England Lions. In May 2011, Taylor represented England Lions in a tour match against Sri Lanka at the County Ground, Derby. Taylor opened the batting hitting 76 in the first innings. For the August 2011 Sri Lanka A series, Taylor was appointed captain of the England Lions at the age of 21. In the four-day game against Sri Lanka, Taylor was in good form, scoring 76 in the first innings and 98 in the second in a drawn match, in his first match as captain improving his chances of a full call up. In the first one day match against Sri Lanka A, Taylor again impressed hitting a match winning century, smashing 106 from 120 balls in an England victory putting more pressure on the England selectors. In the second one day match, Sri Lanka won by 10 wickets taking the series to a decider, Taylor hit 10 in an all round disappointing display from England Lions.

List A
* denotes not out

Awards

 * 2009
 * PCA Young Cricketer of the Year
 * CWC Young Cricketer of the Year
 * NBC Denis Compton Award
 * Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year