Up and coming Leicestershire batsman, James Taylor is a young man with an extremely bright future. One of the county’s star performers last year, the Melton Mowbray youngster became the youngest Leicestershire batsmen to reach 1,000 Championship runs in a season, was called up to the England Lions squad and named Cricket Writers’ Club Young Player of the Year and PCA Young Player of the Year.

After the county’s impressive start to the season, which has included victories against local rivals Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, Taylor has warned Leicestershire’s rivals that there’s much more to come.

“Yeah, it’s a great start to the season. The best thing and the most positive thing is that we’ve still got a lot more to give. We’ve had some good individual performances, but as a team we’ve got plenty more to give which is quite exciting.

“The ultimate goal is to be promoted but along the way we just need to take each game as it comes and get as many points as we can. At this early stage we need to gradually build into the season and hopefully win plenty of games.”

Keen to add to an impressive start to his career, the 20-year-old, nicknamed ‘titch’ is beginning to find touch this season and hoping to recapture and improve on last summer’s form.

“I had a decent start in the first game getting 88, but for me at this stage of the season it’s about spending time at the crease and hitting as many balls as I can.

“My personal goals are to use last season as a benchmark, both with the runs and with my technique. If I can do better than last season and pick up those one percenters that can help my game from other people, both technically and mentally, that would be great.”

Taylor sees Matthew Hoggard’s influence on the squad as key to their progress and revealed how a good balance of younger players and more experienced pros is paying dividends.

“He (Hoggard) has had a great impact. There’s great energy and a great buzz around the dressing room at the moment. We’ve obviously got plenty of young guys and we’re full of energy and we’ve brought that out to the field, which is the most important thing. We’ve showed in the first few games what we can do.

“There’s a great blend of youth and experience. Obviously we’ve got the experienced players like Paul Nixon, Matthew Hoggard and Claude Henderson and then we’ve got the young players, with plenty of young bowlers and plenty of young batters so the blend is really good. There are some great characters in the dressing room which makes it entertaining.”

As a product of the county’s famed youth system, James paid tribute to the club’s coaches as plenty more young players continue to break into the first team.

“Leicestershire’s Academy is great. There are plenty of young players that have come through, including the likes of Josh Cobb, Nathan Buck, Stuart Broad and Matthew Boyce. There’s been plenty of young bowlers and plenty of young batters and the coaching is great.

“You’ve got Tim Boon, Phil Whitticase, Lloyd Tennant and Russell Cobb as the main coaches. The facilities here are great, not just the indoor facilities but the outdoor surfaces in the nets are second to none from what I’ve heard. We’ve got a great foundation for young players to come through.”