James Taylor - Future Planning

From PCA magazine - an interview with Paul Bolton

Six months ago James Taylor appeared to be on top of the cricketing world. The Nottinghamshire batsman had enjoyed some precious time off after a successful tour of South Africa where he had established himself in England’s Test side and he was looking forward to the start of the new county season. But during Nottinghamshire’s preseason friendly against Cambridge MCCU at Fenner’s Taylor’s world was turned upside down.

 Taylor made ten on the first day in what turned out to be his final innings in first-class cricket but he was taken ill during the warm-up on the second morning. So ill in fact that Taylor thought he was going to die. He was taken to hospital where a specialist diagnosed the light headedness and racing heart beat as a rare heart condition, an Arrythmogenic Right Ventricular Arrythmia, which was so serious that Taylor was told that he was lucky to be alive.

His playing career ended immediately at the age of just 26 and Taylor required a major operation to have a defibrillator fitted. He will need to undergo a similar procedure every six or eight years to ensure that he manages the condition that almost killed him.

Since the dark days of April and May things have improved, outwardly at least, for Taylor who has kept busy as a commentator for Test Match Special and for Sky, but his smiling face disguises the stress and worry of a condition that never goes away. “I’ve done all right to accept it as much as I possibly can but there is obviously a lot more going on with my health than people realise,” Taylor said. “You have just got to get on and think about what you can do and not dwell too much on stuff. My mental state is the most important. You can’t control the physical side of things but you can go some way to helping yourself mentally and being as open as possible. “There are always things going on. People don’t realise how bad it is and how it impacts on my life day to day. Even though you can put on a happy face, behind closed doors people don’t realise what you go through minute by minute in a day. “You feel it 24/7. Even when you are sleeping it wakes you up, you have nightmares and things like that. There are too many things to even start to talk about.”

Taylor has played his part in helping increase awareness of his condition and jointly presented a television documentary with Fabrice Muamba, the footballer who suffered, and survived, a cardiac arrest playing for Bolton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur in 2012. “It is what it is. You just have to crack on and try and find all the positives you can. There are still positives, it’s just a different way of life,” Taylor said. “I am trying to get the best out of a bad situation and trying to help others. I am constantly in contact with people on social media to try and help them which is really nice. “Thousands of people have got in touch with me on social media saying how I am helping them in some way and understanding what they are going through.” Taylor has also had to spend time rethinking his own life and bringing forward plans for what he would do after he finished playing by ten years. “I wasn’t naïve enough to think that my career was never going to come to an end at some point,” he said. “I always thought about that but I thought I would play as long as I could, up to my late thirties, and along the way I would have found different things and made different contacts and connections. “By the time I finished playing I would have had a plan in place of what I would do next. I always liked the thought of coaching and helping. That was in the forefront of my mind.”

Having played for England at Under-19, Lions and senior levels and spent most of his winters on overseas tours, Taylor had little time to work on a Personal Development plan. “I had done a little bit of coaching. I had done some masterclasses with England Under-19s and for a Level Four course where I talked about the mental side of my batting,” Taylor said. “But I hadn’t really done anything else. I’m probably ten years ahead of where I wanted to be in terms of finishing the game. “The longest time I have ever had off in the last seven years was the lead-up to when I had my heart problems which was three weeks. “It was difficult to do other things alongside playing. You can always find time if you really want to do something but I was one of those who wanted to put everything into my cricket. “I don’t regret not having done more Personal Development although I would definitely have got my coaching badges. I’m doing a Level Three course now so there is nothing that I wanted to do that I am not going to have done by Christmas. “I couldn’t have done any more with the media than I am doing at the minute and, apart from personal training and the gym, there wasn’t anything that stuck out for me. Now I can’t even do personal training because of my health.” Taylor intends to maintain his links with first-class cricket through his media work but he has not ruled out using his new coaching qualifications to work in county cricket in the future. “I am trying to keep as busy with the media work as possible. I really enjoy it. I’m close to the game and I know the game,” he said. “I am desperate to stay in with TMS, I love doing that, it’s great fun and it helps me. I love the game and watching the game and talking about the game so it would work out perfectly if I could get some sort of role in the media. “On top of that I am desperate to get into coaching. I am doing Level Three this winter. Ideally I’d like to coach as high up as possible and stay within the first-class game. “I know I’ve got a lot to offer there and I know I can help individuals and sides having been a captain, played with England and travelled the world. I know there are areas that I can help so I desperately want to get involved with that as much as possible. At the moment I'm trying to find my seat in terms of what I want to do.”

PCA Magazine, is a good read and well worth tracking down.

http://www.thepca.co.uk/assets/files/2016/11586_BtB19_WEB_LOW.pdf