Rather shocking news this morning that James Taylor has been forced to retire following the diagnosis of a serious heart condition – Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Arrhythmia, or ARVC.
It is both shocking and saddening to hear that James’ career has been cut short in such a sudden and unexpected manner.
“Throughout his career, he has constantly impressed with his determination to make the absolute most of his ability, and it is immensely cruel that such a hard working player will be unable to fulfil his great potential in the international arena. The ECB will work closely with Nottinghamshire and together we will do everything possible to help James through this difficult period, and aid him in his recovery.” – Andrew Strauss
“Myself and all of James’ teammates and colleagues are terribly sad to hear this news, which comes as a big shock to us all. He is a model professional, the most hard working I’ve ever known in cricket, making it all the more difficult to accept that his career has been cut short in this way. It goes without saying that he has the very best wishes of us all in terms of recovering from his operation, and that we are looking forward to seeing him back at Trent Bridge when he is fit and able,” – Mick Newell
All we can do is wish him well and be relieved that at least it has been discovered and can be treated. Professional sports men and women have been screened to a much greater extent than was the case in the past, and for that we can be thankful.
Being Outside Cricket 
Cant add too much more here. Very sad news for English Cricket. So sad that both Taylor and Kieswetter in the past year have retired from the game with their careers ahead of them.
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Poor bloke – having his career snatched away is awful news. I sincerely hope the diagnosis enables his condition to be successfully treated.
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It’s one of those that is on the one hand awful news, and on the other something to be deeply thankful for. According to the press (I am no doctor) it is the same condition as Fabrice Muamba has. No one needs to spell it out there.
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This is such sad news. It is good that the cricket community will rally round and support him and I wish him all the best in his recovery.
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Saw ‘James Taylor retires’ and was trying to think “which other James Taylor is of retirement age”. Once I read the actual post, It made sense.
Shame, he just seemed to be finally breaking through and he will be a big hole in the Notts middle order. He was skipper for the short form county stuff as well.
Hopefully he can transition into something behind the scenes / coaching (if he wants to stay in the game)
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“My world is upside down.” Poor guy.
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So very sad when something like this happens. It’s a loss for cricket, and more importantly his personal career. But as the leg glance says, it may be a blessing in terms of his future life. Not that he will be feeling like that at the moment. All his hopes and dreams were ahead of him. And now it’s all come to an sudden end.
He seemed like a good guy as well so it feels even more tragic. Best of luck James with your medical operation, and your recovery.
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Gutted for him. He has been one of my favourite players for quite a few years now – I think I was recommended to keep an eye on him back on the old BBC 606 forums when he was Leicestershire. We were yet to see the best of him for England but he was just beginning to establish himself and I’d hoped he was on the verge of really stamping his mark on the international game.
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Thank God he is OK (I. E. Not severely injured or worse).
And let’s hope that different, but even better hopes and dreams still lie ahead of him.
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Truly awful. Wish him good health above all else and hope he soon finds his feet in life again.
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Really awful news. He must be one of the most popular guys in cricket and is certainly the nicest. Just when he was finally getting a regular spot in the England team too — he was good in the UAE, though less so in South Africa. Given a full summer in the side, I think he would have established himself. He always took setbacks and the ignorant slights offered him because of his height with good humour and dignity. I hope he’s successful in whatever career he chooses when he’s recovered from his operation.
Sad though this is, at least he’s alive, unlike Aiden St. John, captain of the Chris Gayle Academy, murdered in Trinidad at the age of 22. Or Sussex’ Matthew Hobden, who died in unclear circumstances just after New Year. Or Warwickshire’s Tom Allin, who fell 100ft from a bridge just days later. 2006 has been almost as bad a year for cricketers as its been for well-loved entertainers, and we’re only in April.
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A real shame – he finally seems to get an opportunity to establish himself, after years of banging on the door (if it was my decision he would have had a real run in the team in 2012), and now this affliction strikes him.
I wish James Taylor the best.
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A real shame, only off-set by the thought that a terrible tragedy has been averted. I wonder if even coaching would represent to much physical activity for his condition, given that he doesn’t seem to be the sort to watch from the sidelines? If not, I’ve seen him speak very well and would be interesting to see what insights he would bring to the media.
Good points from Clive there, what a year so far for the sport.
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I saw him play his 1st test innings at Headingley in 2012 and even though he didn’t get the score demanded he really looked the part. I was annoyed that he was then shelved for so long, especially in ODIs when he has the 4th highest List A batting average ever.
He was also a seriously classy gentleman, able to respond to a lot of provocation with genuine good humour.
I wish him only the very best and hope that whatever he turns to next sees him approach it with the same love, dedication and success that he gave to playing the game.
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James Taylor has been a special cricketer for a long time. I’m delighted that he got a small chance on the international circuit. Absolutely stunned, for him and for England, that he can’t go further. Wishing him a long and happy life once they fix him up.
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A certain Guardian writer has written a piece about Taylor that is a tad mean-spirited, which is unnecessary.
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Hold on, don’t tell me. Let me guess.
I reckon it was Zoe Williams, as an aside in her cars column.
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My money is on champagne socialist Polly Toynbee
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Guess again…
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Says much more about said “journo” than JT, that article.
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Remind me, how many test matches did HE play? Three wasn’t it? Bowled one decent spell in the first, bombed in the next two (and he didn’t even get a bowl in the second innings of his final match in Mumbai, following a dismal performance in the first innings) after which he was never selected again. You could say that with his 6 wickets at 57.16 his England career was, “…a case of so near and yet so far” or that he carried “…the mantle of promising youngster rather than highest achiever.” I don’t recall his playing career ending abruptly at only 26 due to a potentially fatal health condition though, so I can only suppose that there may in fact have been better bowlers – perhaps even one or two who unlike him were genuinely international class – who kept him out of the team.
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Read this one instead.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/997343.html
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That’s infinitely better.
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What a lovely message from Harry Gurney:
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A heartless selfish bastard writes:
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The first reply, by the way, in case you were wondering. The first one.
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I was shocked by Selvey ‘s response. I listened to the commentary when that footballer collapsed. It was harrowing. But I note that Selvey is casting doubts on JTs credentials. KP doesn’t. I cannot imagine how it would feel if my world collapsed like that. I can never prove the ECB shits wrong.
I hope he gets a coaching place, maybe replacing Foxy at Durham.
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Dreadful news for the lad. I’m glad though that it has been caught now and that we are not mourning a death on a cricket field. That is all I can say.
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Awful news and my best wishes to him for the future. I cannot add much more on how sad it is. It is more pertinent then to remember three nice memories of him (although there are many more) starting with his ODI century last September. As Dobell stated, he read the conditions very well.
My second memory will be the World Cup game against Australia in 2015. A poor decision was made worse by the fact that some bogan f***wit called Aaron Finch shakes James Taylor’s hand in a bid to hasten the conclusion of the umpires poor decision. I was outraged. The decision and so the match was not over at the point of Finch’s unsolicited handshake. No outrage from dear James, just a warm smile towards the Aussies, he knew it would have no bearing on the outcome of the match, we were nearly 100 runs short. But he was dignified. Mr Finch most certainly wasn’t. I doubt if he knows what the word means.
Finally and most importantly, the stand with Nick Compton that quite frankly set up the series in Durban last Chrsitmas. Difficult conditions, head over the ball, wearing the SAF attack down. If we are all agreed we don’t measure success purely by the number of centuries, this was his finest hour ( or few hours). We were going to see more of him over the next 8-10 years.
I hope we are able to enjoy him in another capacity in due course.
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Jon, I fear that stand will be airbrushed out of history to a degree, especially in light of the more ‘exciting’ batting that came later. And it was so depressing that whispers of Compton’s scoring rate came so soon after they blunted the Saffer attack and put the pressure back on to a lively but injury prone Steyn.
Very interested to read today of Taylor practising his short-leg fielding while blindfolded. Reminiscent of the research on batting in the dark in understanding how the senses work together for the top practitioners of the sport.
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