James William Arthur Taylor (born 6 January 1990) is an English former cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. A right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm leg break bowler, Taylor made his debut in first-class cricket in 2008 for Leicestershire and made major impressions in his first county seasons. He is noted as being a fine fielder in the covers. He became the youngest Leicestershire one-day centurion and first-class double centurion. In 2009, Taylor also became the youngest player in Leicestershire's history to score 1,000 championship runs in a season. Having represented England at under-19 level and captained the England Lions, Taylor made his One Day International (ODI) debut for England in August 2011. In December 2011, Taylor signed a contract to play for Nottinghamshire and the following summer he made his England Test debut when he faced South Africa at Headingley becoming the 653rd man to play Test cricket for England and the first born in the 1990s. A serious heart condition, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), forced him to retire from all cricket in April 2016. Two years after his retirement he was appointed as a selector for the England team. Early life James Taylor was born in Burrough on the Hill, a small village in Leicestershire. His father, Steve, was a National Hunt jockey until injury forced him to retire and he is now a race starter. Taylor attended Maidwell Hall and then Shrewsbury School where he studied his A-levels and played for their cricket team. Cricket playing career Standing 5 feet 4 inches tall, Taylor is known for his diminutive height and is one of the shortest cricketers to have played English county cricket. He believes that his batting is not weakened by his height and has said "It's good for hooking, and less can go wrong with my feet movement. I use it to my advantage as I like to cut and pull." Debut and beginnings In his early teens, Taylor had links to the Worcestershire academy and played for his local team Loughborough Town and Shrewsbury School. As an 18-year-old he made the headlines for Loughborough Town for becoming only the second batsmen to score a double-century in the top flight of the Everards League, and setting a record for the highest individual score for the club when he made 202 not out. At the age of 18, Taylor was included in Leicestershire's 12-man