Jack Martin Robert Taylor - the man of the match of Royal London One-Day Cup final in 2015, is an all-rounder who bowls off-spin and is an aggressive middle-order batsman, especially in the shorter formats. Jack was first reported for an illegal action in May 2013 and as a result of that, he had to undertake remedial work that was passed legitimately a year later. 2017 was one of the best years for Taylor in county cricket as he averaged 40 in first-class and was consistent in the 50-over format at the same time. It's his ability to hit big sixes batting in the lower middle order that makes him an exciting batsman to watch out for.
Taylor made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire in August 2010 and batted at number 8 in the first innings, while at number 9 in the second innings. But since then, he has shown tremendous improvement as a batsman and has notched up seven first-class centuries in the last decade or so. His debut wasn't a memorable one for him, as he didn't get a chance to bowl, as James Franklin claimed seven wickets in the first innings, and eight wickets in the match altogether. Taylor's List-A debut came a year later against Somerset, and again it wasn't a great one as he conceded 29 runs in 3 overs and hardly contributed with the bat. Just like his first-class debut, his List A debut was forgotten soon. The young lad didn't lose hope though. On his T20 debut, he proved his mettle, got third-time lucky.
Gloucestershire was playing Somerset again, and Jack Taylor was at his personal best this time around. Jack bagged a four-wicket haul on his T20 debut and in the same match - he was also the highest run-getter for Gloucestershire. As a result of his terrific all-round performance, the 19-year-old chap was adjudged the man of the match.
That was just the confidence booster he needed and in the matches to follow next, Jack played several crucial knocks and took plenty of wickets. He made his maiden first-class century against Derbyshire at Cheltenham and has the highest score of 156 in the longest format. Another memorable knock of his came against Derbyshire during the Royal One-Day Cup where he smacked 41 runs off 14 balls and helped his team get over the line. Jack's highest T20 score of 80 came against Durham during the T20 Blast 2016, but unfortunately, Gloucestershire lost that quarter-final. The following year in 2017, Jack was also awarded the batsman of the year for Gloucestershire owing to his terrific performances across all the three formats for the club.
Written by Nikhil Jadhav
