James Taylor is special as England’s new hero at short leg

Diminutive fielder is crouching in shadow of Close and Co

James Taylor (left) celebrates with Jonny Bairstow after he caught South African batsman Dane Vilas at short leg during the dramatic third day of the third Test at the Wanderers (Getty Images)

The fielding position of short leg is curious. For a start, the name is daft but it is hardly alone in that. What makes it extraordinary is that in these days of computer analysis, examination of the minutiae, ensuring that no stone is unturned, it is where the newbie, the Johnny-come-lately is put.

It has become – at the top level as much as anywhere else – where a chap stands to spend his apprenticeship, as if he should know his place. A year or so later, another newcomer arrives and is given the dubious honour.

The incumbent may practise hard but scant regard is paid to it as a specialist position rather than a temporary posting. The folly of this was apparent during England’s triumphal march to their series victory against South Africa at the Wanderers. James Taylor took two stunning catches at short leg to give Stuart Broad two of his six wickets.

It may be the case that Taylor only secured the position because he is the new kid on the block, but it happily coincides with the fact that he is also a specialist there with plenty of previous experience.

His pair of catches demanded components of the short leg art. For the first, which removed the dangerous Hashim Amla, he had to stay in the crouching position for as long as possible and keep looking at the bat. For the second, to despatch Dane Vilas, he had to rise quickly and swoop full-length to his right. Taylor’s reaction on both occasions was a glorious sight to behold, of a chap who knew he had pulled off something special. He sprinted away, as he agreed, like a striker scoring a hat-trick and suggested that Alan Shearer would have been much cooler.

“Catching those catches was I reckon one of the best feelings I’ve had in cricket,” Taylor said. “The emotion all came out. I think it was also down to the fact that I’d been working on it quite a bit. It is always satisfying when you work on something and it pays off. It never really pays off that quickly but it did on Saturday. I had a couple of hard sessions with our assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, working on my technique so for it to pay off like that was great.”

Taylor is now adamant that he wants to stay at short leg and make the position his own. Apart from the fact that a succession of new caps may have cause to be grateful to him, it will also pay proper tribute to those who have been there before him.

Cricket has lost its way a little in this regard. Once, men like Brian Close, Tony Lock, Peter Walker, David Boon and Gus Logie were celebrated for their reflexes and their bravery under the nose of the batsman or slightly round the corner. When Close died last year, the obituaries all made mention of his cussedness, his refusal to wilt in the position which he was occupying well into his forties.

Taylor’s height makes him a natural candidate for the role. He can stay low, and at the Wanderers – given the conditions and altitude – he was positioned slightly further back, half or three-quarters of a pitch deeper. He had 0.4sec to react for the Amla catch but he prefers the Vilas catch, for which both feet had to leave the ground. He was annoyed that replays showed his hands coming apart for the first catch when he and Farbrace have repeatedly practised keeping them together.

“They say the Amla one was better,” he said. “But I thought the other one, one-handed, looked better. The Amla one he hit it quite firmly, [I was] trying to keep my weight low, me being as short as I am is an added bonus.”

The reason, of course, that it has become a merry-go-round is that the chances of being hit at short leg are high and not everybody is as cussed as Close. If the ball hit him on the head (no helmets then), Close would shout “catch it”. Once the ball ricocheted to second slip and he was asked what would have happened had it hit him in the throat, to which he replied that it would have been caught in the gully.

“If you’re scared of it, you’re going to be no good in there because you’ll be flinching the whole time,” Taylor said. “As long as you are not scared and you commit to it, that is the important thing. And if you have got a good bowler, that also helps. You know you’re not going to cop it as much. But I’ve got that stupid big helmet on my head, which is nice, and the pads, which do get very boring after 90 overs in the field. It gives you that added bit of protection and security so you can dive into it.”

Occasionally – probably more often than anyone would prefer – Taylor has to take evasive action. The distance from the bat dictates what he does and when. “I try and get even smaller than I am. I duck my head and try to keep my hands in. On Saturday, because I was a little deeper, I could stay up even if they were pulling it. With spinners, unless it balloons up or something freaky happens, you just try to stay as tight and small as possible and keep my hands tucked in.”

Almost by default, England have found a specialist for a specialist position. It is another small but significant step in the evolution of this team.