Blast hero Taylor delighted to make instant impact with the Steelbacks

Brought in on loan from Leicestershire last week ahead of signing a three-year deal with the County in the winter, Taylor was thrown in at the deep end when he was selected to play in the Steelbacks’ must-win Vitality T20 Blast against Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston.

Handed the ball by skipper Josh Cobb to bowl the third over of the Bears innings, Taylor’s first delivery for his new club was hammered high into the stands for a towering six by Rob Yates.

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But the next delivery Taylor had his first wicket for the Steelbacks as Yates miscued trying to repeat the shot from the previous delivery, and hit the ball straight to Ben Sanderson at mid-on.

Two balls later, Taylor struck again as he bowled Will Rhodes with a beauty and his Northants career was well and truly up and running!

But not content with making a bowling impact, Taylor then excelled with the bat as he produced a match-winning knock of 50 not out from just 27 balls.

He even had the honour of clubbing the winning runs as the Steelbacks, who when Taylor walked to the crease were reeling at 71 for six chasing 192 to win, won a remarkable match by seven wickets with seven balls to spare to reach the T20 Blast quarter-finals.

“After I bowled my first ball I was thinking ‘this could be an interesting debut’, but it could only get better from there and I am chuffed with how it went,” said Taylor.

“I think we clawed back a little bit of momentum when Saif (Zaib) was in, as he was going pretty well and was pretty unlucky to get out the way he did.

“But our plan was to just try and hit strong shots, try and read the situation of the game, and being a bowler I was pretty confident that I knew where they were going to try and bowl it.

“So I tried to read the game as best I could, and then hit strong shots in good areas, and it has come off for me, and Keysy (Rob Keogh) was fantastic as well.”

It was a staggering debut performance from Taylor in only his sixth T20 appearance.

In his five matches for Leicestershire in the current campaign, he managed just 62 runs in five innings, and he said: “I know from my point of view I have been striking the ball better than I have been displaying for Leicestershire.

“And with Keysy, from what I have seen over the past couple of days, he has been hitting the ball brilliantly in the nets, and fully deserves that innings as well, he played really well.”

Taylor’s efforts along with Graeme White and Keogh means both his and the County’s 2020 cricket campaign will stretch into next month, as they take on Gloucestershire at Bristol in the quarter-final on Thursday, October 1.

Finals day is two days later at Edgbaston (Oct 3), and Taylor admitted he is glad he is going to get another chance to play this season.

“The nature of the loan situation was really to always try and get a game in this competition, and to try and prolong the season, not only for myself but for the boys here that have grafted hard and won the first four group games as they did,” said the 25-year-old.

“It was a bit of a cup final for the lads, but it was also a cup final for me as well because I was always going to get one game and I had to try and stamp my authority on that game to try and get through to play in the quarter-finals.

“You do want to make an impression, but I tried not to think about it too much.

“I just had to focus on the game at hand and the situation, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to perform, which is why it was quite funny my first ball went for six!

“But now we are stood here after the game with a victory and I am thoroughly happy we have got a good win and the lads are through to the quarter-finals.”

So what about playing county cricket in the autumn?

“I don’t think there have been too many games played in October, but we have a week now while the five-day Championship game is on (Somerset play Essex at Lord’s in the Ben Willis Trophy final),” said Taylor.

“I think the plan is to have a couple of days off and then reflect on the competition as a whole, have a bit of training, and then just attack that quarter-final.”