James Taylor hopes that by resisting the “demons” on his shoulder and instead knuckling down on a turning track at Old Trafford, his maiden international century on Tuesday has sent a message to the England selectors before they convene next week to draw up plans for the winter.
Taylor’s 101 from 114 balls – an innings of only five boundaries that left his legs aching after running 47 singles, 11 twos and four threes – laid the platform from which England’s spin pairing of Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali were able to capitalise, with their five wickets setting up a 94-run win over Australia that sees the series alive going into Friday’s fourth encounter at Headingley.
While they sit 2-1 down, Eoin Morgan’s side know a win in Leeds would put fear into the tourists before Sunday’s return to Manchester, having failed their first true test against the turning ball and certain to face another trial by spin in the tour finale. Taylor, in breaking three figures in his 21st one-day international, highlighted the discipline needed and pushed his claim for a Test spot for the series against Pakistan this October.
“I had a few demons on my shoulder urging me to play a few more big shots but the situation I was in kind of dictated the way I played,” said the Nottinghamshire right-hander, who is also England vice-captain in the absence of Jos Buttler. “I think people have seen over the last few years that I have got a lot to offer, in one-day cricket especially.
“But it was nice little reminder on a turning pitch where it wasn’t easy to score off the slower bowlers and similar conditions to what we are going to have in the United Arab Emirates [against Pakistan] this winter. I know we are going to be against good spin bowlers there and I’m desperate to get back in the Test side.
“I’ve got that hundred I needed because 20 games is too long for me to go without scoring one. I was just delighted I could do that and help the team in any way, whether that is with the bat or in the field helping Morgy out if he needs it.”
It must be said that keeping out Yasir Shah, a leg-spinner with 61 wickets in 10 Tests and current ranked fourth in the world, as well as the experienced slow left-armer Zulfiqar Babar, would represent something of a step-up in challenge from repelling Australia’s Ashton Agar, on his one-day international debut, and the part-time off-breaks of Glenn Maxwell.
And it is, of course, something of an English trait that performances in one-day internationals be viewed through the prism of Test cricket; that wearing pyjamas for your country is somehow a stepping stone towards donning the whites and not one of three separate pinnacles of cricketing excellence in its own right.
Changing that mentality is something the director of cricket, Andrew Strauss, is keen to address after proclaiming, on his appointment back in May, that unless the 50-over format be given equal standing, mediocrity at global tournaments will continue. The list of centrally-contracted players published at the end of the season should support this accordingly.
Yet for the players – according to results of the recent survey by the Professional Cricketers’ Association and almost every poll before it – Test cricket is a level to strive for above all others. It is understandable, therefore, that while Taylor, who briefly tasted it in 2012 against South Africa, is desperate to secure a one-day place, his ambitions spread across all formats.
The 25-year-old’s likely competition for the reserve batsman spot on tour is Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance, who was dropped after two Tests of the Ashes series and made defiant noises about not changing his much-critiqued technique. The left-hander’s 165 against Sussex at Hove last month was made at No5, the position that the incumbent Jonny Bairstow is trying to nail down.
For now, the job in hand for Taylor is against Australia and the white ball, with England having given themselves a sniff of making it five series wins out of six across all formats in a summer that has had everyone thinking big.
