When it was announced that international exhibition matches would be played in Pakistan this weekend, the presence of a former Test veteran like Sanath Jayasuriya in a World XI squad would not have raised too many eyebrows. The presence of an American teenager just might do the trick though, Cricinfo reported.
Mixing and mingling with the likes of Jermaine Lawson, Andre Nel and Jayasuriya will be Steven Taylor, an 18-year-old left-hand opening batsman from Miramar, Florida, located 20 miles north of Miami. USA has produced youngsters in recent years that looked like glittering gems at the junior level only to lose their luster before falling short of reaching the senior team. Taylor on the other hand has continued to sparkle and has a chance to become America’s first home-grown star since Bart King led the first-class bowling averages in England in 1908.
Taylor played the first of two games for the International World XI against Pakistan All Star XI in Karachi, scoring a run-a-ball 15 while batting at No.3.
“If you look at the rest of the Under-19 players in America, Steven is way ahead. He has a tremendous amount of talent,” fellow USA team-mate Orlando Baker said. Taylor first toured with the men at the age of 15 in November 2008 when Baker captained a USA squad at the WICB Cup in Guyana. Taylor earned the nickname “Bob” on the trip after showing up wearing a SpongeBob SquarePants backpack. In the four years since, he has grown into a punishing opener and his intimidating batting style has forced Baker to stop calling him Bob, instead labeling him “the American Chris Gayle.” Baker should know since he grew up with Gayle as the two played for the Jamaica U-19 team together in 1996 and 1997 before Baker moved to America.
“Playing with a guy like Chris Gayle, Steven gives me so much resemblance of him in terms of his power, his timing and I just hope he keeps working hard because he has a lot of talent,” Baker said. “When you look and you can find a player like this in America with so much cricketing talent, so much natural talent, you want to nurture this talent.”
