Derief Taylor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kingston, Jamaica
Cross Roads, Jamaica
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Derief David Samuel Taylor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 September 1910 Kingston, Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 17 March 1987 (aged 76) Cross Roads, Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Baron Taylor of Warwick (son) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1948–1950 | Warwickshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricket Archive, 31 December 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derief David Samuel Taylor (17 September 1910 – 17 March 1987) was a Jamaican cricketer who played for Warwickshire from 1948 to 1950, and then coached the county from 1951 to 1981.
Derief Taylor left a taxi business in Kingston to fight in World War II. While serving with the British Eighth Army in the North African campaign he met the Warwickshire batsman Tom Dollery, and decided to try his luck as a professional cricketer with Warwickshire. In order to maximise his chances of playing he did not tell the club his real age.[1] His birth date appeared in Wisden simply as "b. 1918".[2]
In 1948 he played a few matches as a left-arm spinner and tail-end batsman with little success, but in 1949, promoted to the middle order, he scored 438 runs at an average of 43.80[3] and took 12 wickets at 33.50.[4] He had an unusual batting stance, facing mid-on, instead of the usual off-side.[5] Against Leicestershire he made 121, adding 178 for the fifth wicket with Dollery, both men playing "fine strokes all round the wicket".[6][7] He also made 54 not out and 42 not out and took match figures of 57–31–58–4 against Combined Services.[8] After the 1949 season Wisden suggested that "this West Indian left-hander should prove a great asset".[9] However, he played only two matches in 1950 before poor form and injury ended his first-class career.