You started the summer of 2006
brilliantly, with a fine century against Glamorgan at Cardiff. What
are your memories of that innings?
The main one was a completely
misinterpreted reaction to being dismissed!
Steve Stubbings and I batted really
well and we reached 247-1 before Stubbo went for 97. Then Travis Birt
went first ball and there was a mini-slide - we were suddenly five
down for 251. That brought in Hasan Adnan. The two of us were really
good mates, often eating out together with our respective partners.
I was on 120 and seeing it like a
football. I played Robert Croft (I think) down to long on for an easy
single and just strolled through. The thing was, Hasan had switched
off – or hadn't switched on – and I got down the non-striker's
end to find him still standing there.
We kind of circled each other as we
decided who was going to go, which made it hard for the umpires to
work out if we'd crossed. They eventually said that one of us had to,
and Hasan said it wasn't going to be him, as he was playing for a
contract. So I had to go and as I walked off, lifted my bat playfully
as if to hit him. There was nothing in it at all, although I was
disappointed to get out when I was so well set.
Dave Houghton was furious, especially
when Hasan was out soon afterwards and it was pretty uncomfortable in
the dressing room.
Next day, going to the ground on the
team bus, I turned to the sports pages of the newspaper and there was
a big headline 'Taylor looks to strike partner'. Neither of us could
believe so much had been made of it, but when we got to the ground,
the umpires said that they had no intention of reporting us. They
were close enough to realise that there was nothing in it whatsoever.
The highlight must have been an
early century against Yorkshire at Headingley in the Cheltenham and
Gloucester Trophy, a game we won by 21 runs?
That was the innings that gave me the
most satisfaction in my career. We got there on the day and all the
sights, sounds and smells were exactly as I remembered them – just
how I'd pictured it would be.
Yorkshire were a good team and Michael
Di Venuto went early, but I felt right from the time I got to the
middle. Stubbo and myself had another big stand and whatever shot I
played seemed to come off. I still have a copy of the Radio Leeds
commentary and can just about recite their coverage of reaching my
ton by heart.
I remember turning to the Western
Terrace, where my family were sitting, and waving across to them,
then I kissed the Derbyshire badge on my shirt, which seemed a
natural thing to do. It was the most wonderful, overwhelming feeling
and I felt amazing. The Yorkshire lads were generous in their
comments and applause and it was the best day of my career.
I suppose I'd made a point...
Perhaps an even better innings was
the century against Durham at Derby, when we chased down a target of
275 in 50 overs and won with eight balls to spare?
Yes, that's right. While the Yorkshire
innings was the one that gave me the most satisfaction, I don't think
I ever played so well as against Durham.
Ottis Gibson was their overseas and
they had a good attack. Their batting was impressive too and they
posted a great score in fifty overs. We did OK, but when I walked out
to bat at 92-3 I was conscious of people moaning and grumbling on the
pavilion balcony. They'd pretty much written the game off.
I decided just to play my shots and go
for it and everything hit the middle. I had great support from Ant
Botha and Graeme Welch and we won with eight balls to spare.
In the dressing room afterwards, I sat
there thinking I could play for England if I batted like that on a
regular basis. Dave Houghton came over and told me it was one of the
best one-day knocks he'd ever seen, then Martyn Moxon, the Durham
coach, did the same.
It was a terrific feeling.
There were another two centuries
that summer and you missed a thousand runs by just under a hundred.
How did you feel at the end of it? Pleased you had established
yourself, or disappointed at missing the landmark?
It has always been the benchmark
against which a batsman is judged and I missed it by less than a
hundred runs. I'd probably have got there, but I missed three matches
with a broken finger, when someone accidentally slammed a car boot
shut on my hand at a wedding!
I remember at the end of season dinner
in the Lund Pavilion, going out on to the balcony with Dave Houghton
and chatting about the season. My Dad was there too and it was a
great night. Dave told me that if I carried on in that vein I could
play for England. There were stories that Geoff Miller was keeping an
eye on my progress and a Lions tour could be in the offing if I kept
the impetus going.
It gave me an incentive for the second
season, when I was on an improved contract after the success of that
first summer. My goal for that second season was to push myself into
the England reckoning and become a candidate for the Derbyshire
captaincy, which had quickly become a major ambition for me.
Yet there were even better scores in
the one-day game, where you batted quite beautifully, with 564 runs
at 63 in just thirteen innings, second in the national one-day
averages.
Yes, that shocked a few people in
Yorkshire! I felt in good nick all summer and I was very pleased by
the end of it. I'd cleared 1500 runs in all cricket and I had to be
pleased with that, in what was effectively my first full season in
the first-class game.
Things changed that winter though.
Michael Di Venuto left but was replaced by Simon Katich and Ian
Harvey. On paper, that didn't look to weaken the side?
No, but the atmosphere changed. There
were two factions, effectively the Aussies and the rest and in my
opinion there were too many overseas players. Besides Harvey and
Katich, Michael Dighton came in on a UK passport and was told he was
going to be batting at three, which had been my spot. There were a
few occasions where the top six were all born overseas – there was
also Greg Smith, Ant Botha and Steve Stubbings. It left the English
lads feeling a little left out. Wayne White and I were often out in
the cold.
Phil Weston was another who struggled
in the environment. He'd been a prolific batsman for most of his
career at Worcestershire and could barely buy a run at Derbyshire. It
wasn't for the lack of talent or trying, it simply wasn't the most
productive of atmospheres.
It quickly became clear that certain
factions wanted Dave Houghton out and there was support for that from
some of the committee at that time. It made it a very difficult
season from a number of angles.
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