It was in Sri Lanka that James Taylor came to prominence. And there he was on Monday morning just off the road to Kandy smiling at us in triumph through his bushy, unkempt beard.
It was a striking photo of Taylor, the Scot who arrived on the island in 1852 and introduced commercial tea plantations here. On the site of his first factory there was a reviving cuppa for those journeying up into the hills for the next two ODIs, which take place in Pallekele, about 15 miles from Kandy.
By happy happenstance we had just been listening to another James Taylor before setting off for Kandy and he was also smiling. There was a bruise on his forearm, a remnant of the painful cramps he suffered while hitting 90 for England in his first ODI appearance for 15 months and his first against non-Irish opposition.
“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Taylor said, describing his return to international cricket [rather than his breakfast beverage]. “It’s nice to show people what I can do. It’s been a frustrating couple of years waiting for my chance. But obviously it’s disappointing not to do it in a winning cause. Now I can look forward to a few more innings.”
The assumption is that when Alastair Cook returns on Wednesday with his side 3-1 down in the six-match series, Taylor, his replacement on Sunday, will stay in the side. Someone else will have to go. Taylor is a confident young man, but also an intelligent one. He remembered not to assume that his place in Kandy was guaranteed but in measured tones he said: “I would be slightly disappointed not to get another go but you never know. I will find out on the day of the game; so fingers crossed.”
That confidence in his ability, which has not been expressed by every England colleague Taylor has encountered, is more easily evident than in some young players. “I have plenty of belief. I have scored plenty of runs in county cricket and when I have been in a Lions shirt [Taylor has played too often for the Lions for his liking] .
“So I knew I could do it against international teams. It’s just actually stepping up and doing it on the big stage, which I managed to do [on Sunday]. This has probably been the first time that a real gap has opened up in the team. I would like to think that I have given them a tricky decision to make.”
He is right there. Selection on this tour has been a tricky process from the start and it remains so. In part, this is because England have two goals in Sri Lanka, which can sometimes seem mutually exclusive: they want to discover more about some of the less experienced members of the squad and they want to win games.
On Sunday their emphasis was on the first goal, as demonstrated by the preference for Ben Stokes rather than James Tredwell in the team. That did not work so well since Stokes failed to deliver with bat or ball and as a result his confidence may well have sunk even further. That outcome may influence England’s outlook in Kandy, in which case Cook is most likely to replace Alex Hales, who was out without scoring in Colombo.
Taylor acknowledged that there appears to be a dogfight with his Nottinghamshire colleague. “From the outside that’s probably what it looks like at the minute and it’s up to us to take the opportunity. I did that yesterday but that was yesterday and we have got a few more big games to come.”
Yet there is an illogicality here since Taylor and Hales offer different qualities. Hales is an aggressor; Taylor, while capable of cracking sixes, is more of a calculated accumulator, adept at adjusting his game to the circumstances.
There is an argument for allowing Hales, still a relative novice in this format, another chance. It is, however, very difficult to achieve this. Cook could replace Stokes from Sunday’s team but that means he is very short of bowling options. Otherwise the only way would be to enter the realm of “resting” rather than “dropping” players – and leave out Joe Root for a game (“You’re tired, Joe.” “No, I’m not.”).
One thing is certain. At the innings break at Kandy it will not be Taylor making the tea.
