Alistair Taylor (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
Alistair Innes 'Scotch' Taylor (25 July 1925, Johannesburg
– 7 February 2004, Johannesburg
) was a South Africa
n sportsman who played first-class cricket
and hockey for Transvaal
, and captained the Transvaal cricket team
for four seasons. Taylor represented South Africa in one cricket Test
in 1956. He was an alumnus of the King Edward VII School, set up a squash section in the Old Edwardians club, and was elected president of the South African Hockey Union.
Taylor died of a stroke
at the age of 78.
debut as an opener against Rhodesia in 1950–51. He scored his first century in the next match, as Griqualand West
were defeated by an innings and 332 runs and Taylor added 204 for the first wicket with South Africa Test veteran Eric Rowan
, who broke the previous Currie Cup record score during the game. Transvaal won the 1950–51 Currie Cup
, drawing only one match, and with 368 runs Taylor finished tenth in the Currie Cup runs tally, only behind Rowan for Transvaal. In the 1951–52 season, Taylor was out of the team and Transvaal relegated to Section B, but he returned with a hundred and four wickets in a preseason draw with Natal in November 1952. And though he fell to 25th place in the seasonal runs tally, he hit 164 in an innings win over Border, where he added 274 with Rowan for the first wicket. He did, however, record six scores below 20, and was dropped for the return clash with Border, where Transvaal lost by an innings. His bowling was also utilised, as he took 10 wickets at a bowling average
of 32.30 in the season.
There was no Currie Cup the following season, but Taylor still played three first class games, though he was relegated down the order. Against the touring New Zealanders Taylor batted at number seven; in a rain-affected game at Ellis Park, Transvaal hit 145 for eight in 29 overs, with Taylor slapping Tony MacGibbon
, Bob Blair
and John Richard Reid
for 64 runs, 40 more than any other Transvaal batsman. Transvaal declared overnight, trailing by 71 runs, but New Zealand batted out the day for a draw.
Without Taylor, Transvaal won their first game of the 1954–55, but Taylor played in the match against defending champions Western Province, making a first-class highest score of 180 as Transvaal won by an innings and 306 runs. The following week against Natal, he and Ken Funston took Transvaal within 32 runs of Natal's first innings total with eight wickets in hand, but Hugh Tayfield
and Ian Smith
, and Taylor was then bowled by Tayfield for nine as Transvaal made 99 in pursuit of a target of 246 to win. As Trevor Goddard
's 55 helped Natal bat out 46 overs for the draw in the return leg, where Taylor hit 61 of his team's 423 runs in two innings, and Transvaal also failed to beat Western Province, they had to be content with second place; with 461 runs, the most Taylor had made in a Currie Cup season, Taylor finished seventh in the runs tally but topped the batting averages.
Taylor got his captaincy debut the following season, leading his team to a 52-run win over Eastern Province
and the league lead, but followed it up by getting bowled by Hugh Roy (a medium-pacer with a career bowling average of 42) as Transvaal chased 272 for their third win. Despite Russell Endean
's unbeaten 91, Transvaal lost, and Western Province got off to the start that would eventually lead to the Currie Cup title. Transvaal also lost their other clash with Western Province, as they chased 120 with eight wickets down on a rain-affected wicket. Taylor top-scored after being put in to open. However, he only got one fifty in the season, and with 235 runs he finished 34th on the Currie Cup runs table.
There was no Currie Cup cricket the following season, as England
toured and played 20 first-class matches. However, there was a first-class match between Transvaal and Natal, and after a run out
in the first innings Taylor hit 85 as Transvaal recovered from a 145-run first innings deficit to win the game by three wickets. Taylor played in two games for Transvaal and a South African XI against the tourists, and with captain Jackie McGlew
out of the Test squad with an injury he was picked for the first Test starting on Christmas Eve. He ended with 12 and 6 in his two innings, as England won the Test by 131 runs. McGlew returned for the second Test, but was unable to play again, but now Rhodesia opener Tony Pithey
was preferred to Taylor, who ended the season with a first class batting average of 22.
The next season was little better. Though Transvaal again beat Natal, Taylor once again got out in single figures, and in his two matches against the touring Australians he failed to make fifty even once, thus failing to pass 50 for the first time since his one-game season in 1949–50. Three fifties the following season helped him up the batting average to 24.92 as the Currie Cup was once again played for, and in a rain-affected season he finished 20th in the runs tally and Transvaal won the Cup after a win over Western Province and a draw with Natal in the final two games. Taylor was captain in four of the six games.
His last hundred came the following season, in a 197-run stand with Russell Endean
as Border were defeated by an innings and 44 runs, with Transvaal losing only two wickets. Taylor made 353 runs, tenth in the Currie Cup, but only made 15 and 0 in the title decider against Natal, which Natal drew to win the title after making Transvaal follow on. He made his final game against the International Cavaliers
side that toured South Africa in the early months of the 1960–61 season, making 7 and 41 against an opening-bowler pair of Fred Trueman
and Brian Statham
.
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
– 7 February 2004, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
) was a South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n sportsman who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
and hockey for Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
, and captained the Transvaal cricket team
Transvaal cricket team
Gauteng cricket team is the first-class cricket team of the province of Gauteng in South Africa....
for four seasons. Taylor represented South Africa in one cricket Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in 1956. He was an alumnus of the King Edward VII School, set up a squash section in the Old Edwardians club, and was elected president of the South African Hockey Union.
Taylor died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
at the age of 78.
Cricket career
Taylor was a top-order batsman, and made his Currie CupSuperSport Series
The SuperSport Series is the main domestic first class cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in 1889-90. From 1990-91 it became known as the Castle Cup, and from 1996-97 by its current title...
debut as an opener against Rhodesia in 1950–51. He scored his first century in the next match, as Griqualand West
Griqualand West cricket team
The Griqualand West cricket team is the first-class cricket team that represents the province of Griqualand West in South Africa. For the purposes of the SuperSport Series, Griqualand West has merged with Free State to form the Eagles from October 2004....
were defeated by an innings and 332 runs and Taylor added 204 for the first wicket with South Africa Test veteran Eric Rowan
Eric Rowan
Eric Alfred Burchell Rowan, born on 20 July 1909 and died at Johannesburg on 30 April 1993, was a cricketer who played for Transvaal, Eastern Province and South Africa....
, who broke the previous Currie Cup record score during the game. Transvaal won the 1950–51 Currie Cup
SuperSport Series
The SuperSport Series is the main domestic first class cricket competition in South Africa, first contested in 1889-90. From 1990-91 it became known as the Castle Cup, and from 1996-97 by its current title...
, drawing only one match, and with 368 runs Taylor finished tenth in the Currie Cup runs tally, only behind Rowan for Transvaal. In the 1951–52 season, Taylor was out of the team and Transvaal relegated to Section B, but he returned with a hundred and four wickets in a preseason draw with Natal in November 1952. And though he fell to 25th place in the seasonal runs tally, he hit 164 in an innings win over Border, where he added 274 with Rowan for the first wicket. He did, however, record six scores below 20, and was dropped for the return clash with Border, where Transvaal lost by an innings. His bowling was also utilised, as he took 10 wickets at a bowling average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 32.30 in the season.
There was no Currie Cup the following season, but Taylor still played three first class games, though he was relegated down the order. Against the touring New Zealanders Taylor batted at number seven; in a rain-affected game at Ellis Park, Transvaal hit 145 for eight in 29 overs, with Taylor slapping Tony MacGibbon
Tony MacGibbon
Anthony Roy MacGibbon, was a cricketer who played 26 Tests for New Zealand.MacGibbon was a useful lower-order right-hand batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler who led the attack for his country for most of the 1950s...
, Bob Blair
Bob Blair (cricketer)
Robert William Blair is a former cricketer who played 19 Tests for New Zealand.In December 1953 Blair, playing for New Zealand against South Africa at Johannesburg, received news that his fiancée, Nerissa Love, had been killed in the Tangiwai railway disaster on Christmas Eve...
and John Richard Reid
John Richard Reid
John Richard Reid was a New Zealand cricketer who captained New Zealand in 34 Tests. He was the country's first cricketing leader to achieve victory, both at home against the West Indies in 1956 and the first away win, against South Africa in 1962...
for 64 runs, 40 more than any other Transvaal batsman. Transvaal declared overnight, trailing by 71 runs, but New Zealand batted out the day for a draw.
Without Taylor, Transvaal won their first game of the 1954–55, but Taylor played in the match against defending champions Western Province, making a first-class highest score of 180 as Transvaal won by an innings and 306 runs. The following week against Natal, he and Ken Funston took Transvaal within 32 runs of Natal's first innings total with eight wickets in hand, but Hugh Tayfield
Hugh Tayfield
Hugh Joseph Tayfield was a cricketer. He played 37 Test matches for South Africa from 1949 to 1960 and was one of the best off spinners the game has seen. He was the fastest South African to take 100 wickets in Tests until Dale Steyn claimed the record in March 2008...
and Ian Smith
Ian Smith (South African cricketer)
Vivian Ian Smith is a former South African cricketer who played in nine Tests from 1947 to 1957. All nine of his Test appearances were outside South Africa, five in England on two tours, in 1947 and 1955, and four in Australia, where again he toured twice, in 1949-50 and 1957-58.Smith was a...
, and Taylor was then bowled by Tayfield for nine as Transvaal made 99 in pursuit of a target of 246 to win. As Trevor Goddard
Trevor Goddard (cricketer)
Trevor Leslie Goddard is a former left-hand cricketer. An all-rounder, he played 41 Test matches for South Africa from 1955 to 1970, captaining them over the 1963-64 season and drawing an encounter with Australia. A left-handed, classically correct opening batsman, he was also a successful swing...
's 55 helped Natal bat out 46 overs for the draw in the return leg, where Taylor hit 61 of his team's 423 runs in two innings, and Transvaal also failed to beat Western Province, they had to be content with second place; with 461 runs, the most Taylor had made in a Currie Cup season, Taylor finished seventh in the runs tally but topped the batting averages.
Taylor got his captaincy debut the following season, leading his team to a 52-run win over Eastern Province
Eastern Province cricket team
Eastern Province cricket team is the team representing the Eastern Province in domestic first-class cricket in South Africa.-Honours:* Currie Cup - 1988–89, 1991–92; shared - 1989–90* Standard Bank Cup - 1989–90, 1991–92...
and the league lead, but followed it up by getting bowled by Hugh Roy (a medium-pacer with a career bowling average of 42) as Transvaal chased 272 for their third win. Despite Russell Endean
Russell Endean
William Russell Endean was a South African cricketer who played in twenty eight Tests from 1951 to 1958....
's unbeaten 91, Transvaal lost, and Western Province got off to the start that would eventually lead to the Currie Cup title. Transvaal also lost their other clash with Western Province, as they chased 120 with eight wickets down on a rain-affected wicket. Taylor top-scored after being put in to open. However, he only got one fifty in the season, and with 235 runs he finished 34th on the Currie Cup runs table.
There was no Currie Cup cricket the following season, as England
English cricket team in South Africa in 1956-57
The England cricket team toured South Africa in the 1956-57 season. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and the side played five Test matches as England and 15 other first-class matches as "MCC"...
toured and played 20 first-class matches. However, there was a first-class match between Transvaal and Natal, and after a run out
Run out
Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...
in the first innings Taylor hit 85 as Transvaal recovered from a 145-run first innings deficit to win the game by three wickets. Taylor played in two games for Transvaal and a South African XI against the tourists, and with captain Jackie McGlew
Jackie McGlew
Derrick John "Jackie" McGlew, born on 11 March 1929, Pietermaritzburg and died at Pretoria on 8 June 1998 was a cricketer who played for Natal and South Africa...
out of the Test squad with an injury he was picked for the first Test starting on Christmas Eve. He ended with 12 and 6 in his two innings, as England won the Test by 131 runs. McGlew returned for the second Test, but was unable to play again, but now Rhodesia opener Tony Pithey
Tony Pithey
Anthony John Pithey was a South African cricketer who played in seventeen Tests from 1957 to 1965. He was a technically correct top-order batsmen who developed a reputation for being a stayer rather than a strokemaker...
was preferred to Taylor, who ended the season with a first class batting average of 22.
The next season was little better. Though Transvaal again beat Natal, Taylor once again got out in single figures, and in his two matches against the touring Australians he failed to make fifty even once, thus failing to pass 50 for the first time since his one-game season in 1949–50. Three fifties the following season helped him up the batting average to 24.92 as the Currie Cup was once again played for, and in a rain-affected season he finished 20th in the runs tally and Transvaal won the Cup after a win over Western Province and a draw with Natal in the final two games. Taylor was captain in four of the six games.
His last hundred came the following season, in a 197-run stand with Russell Endean
Russell Endean
William Russell Endean was a South African cricketer who played in twenty eight Tests from 1951 to 1958....
as Border were defeated by an innings and 44 runs, with Transvaal losing only two wickets. Taylor made 353 runs, tenth in the Currie Cup, but only made 15 and 0 in the title decider against Natal, which Natal drew to win the title after making Transvaal follow on. He made his final game against the International Cavaliers
International Cavaliers
The International Cavaliers were an ad hoc cricket team made up of famous cricketers in order to encourage local cricket. Their teams included many prominent cricketers from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as many retired veterans and talented young players were in the team at one point or another...
side that toured South Africa in the early months of the 1960–61 season, making 7 and 41 against an opening-bowler pair of Fred Trueman
Fred Trueman
Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...
and Brian Statham
Brian Statham
John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast...
.
External links
- Statistical summary from CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...