Taylor, Bob: What a Catch

Jump to: navigation, search

FROM the end of the First World War until the mid-1980s, Derbyshire County Cricket Club was served by only three regular wicketkeepers, writes Anton Rippon.

And the last of these, Bob Taylor, was arguably one of the greatest who ever played the game.

Taylor made his Derbyshire debut in June 1961. By the time he retired in 1984, he had dismissed 1,304 batsman for Derbyshire (1,157 caught; 147 stumped) and 1,649 (1,473; 176) in all first-class cricket.

He held several Derbyshire records including most dismissals in a career; in an innings (seven on two occasions); and in a match (10).

He also broke two England records with seven dismissals in one innings against India at Bombay in 1980, and 10 dismissals in the same match.

After understudying Kent’s Alan Knott for almost a decade, Taylor got his chance to forge a proper Test career when Knott went off to join the Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket travelling circus.

Taylor played in 57 Tests, catching 167 and stumping seven opponents.

He scored 97 in the Adelaide Test of 1978-79 before sportingly walking after he nicked a ball that the umpire probably had not spotted.

Taylor, who was born at Stoke-on-Trent on July 17, 1941, was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1977. He was also a good enough footballer to play semi-professionally in the early 1960s.

His cricket playing days over, he stayed in the game as a corporate host.

Pages linking here