Taylor picked up by Surrey

So James Taylor has been picked up by Surrey, after his release by Derbyshire.

One thing is for sure - one of them has made a mistake, and time will tell which one.

There can be no doubting the talent of the player. You don't become an England age group cricketer without that, but for whatever reason, Derbyshire saw fit to dispense with his services. 

On the occasions I saw him, he looked the furthest back of the trio of young bowlers on the staff at the start of the summer. He didn't have the bounce and pace of Conners, nor the bustle of Gleadall. Then again, plenty of bowlers have made fine county careers without those attributes, the names of Derek Shackleton, Tom Cartwright and Darren Stevens among them.

Something wasn't right from a Derbyshire perspective, and whether it was fitness, attitude or simply budget, they saw fit to dispense with his services. The finances of Surrey and Derbyshire are diametrically opposed and the southern county has the capacity to take a risk on a young player of undoubted promise, as well as being better able to absorb the loss if he doesn't make it.

On the one hand it is an excellent move for the player, but he will be way back in the pecking order at Surrey, behind - deep breath - Curran, Curran, Morkel, Meaker, Plunkett, Clarke, Clark, McKerr, Dernbach, Topley and new overseas seamer Michael Neser. While some of these players are single format only, and others limited by international calls, eleven seamers is around three or four teams worth. It must be very difficult to keep them all happy, I would have thought. Mind you, to be on a good contract for minimal cricket might keep a few with a smile on their face...

One for the future then, and I wish him well. 

Let's just hope that we can pick up someone else, besides a good overseas, to take up some of the workload.