Alastair Cook, the England Test captain, believes James Taylor’s enforced retirement from cricket due to a serious heart condition could serve as a “wake-up call” to the game as a whole.
Taylor is set to undergo an operation at the end of this week to have a defibrillator fitted after tests on Monday showed his recent spells of light-headedness and a high heart-rate were down to the congenital heart condition arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.
While ARVC, which affects the cardiac muscle, precludes Taylor from continuing his career as a professional sportsman, as was the case for former Bolton midfielder Fabrice Mumaba, it went undetected during his last heart screening back in 2013.
Captian Cook now sees the batsman’s plight resulting in improved checks on professional cricketers, with the England and Wales Cricket Board having already begun a review into its procedures prior to the Nottinghamshire batsman’s diagnosis.
“We’ve had heart scans. Can we do more? Of course,” said Cook on Sky. “It’s another checkpoint for the ECB to make sure everything is in place. Will it be a wake-up call to make sure we can do more and spend more money to make sure players are looked after? Of course. One of the legacies that James could leave might be to protect a number of other players.”
Cook expressed his shock and sympathy for Taylor after learning the news on Monday evening, before it was publicly announced the following morning, and hopes his former team-mate will return to working in cricket in some capacity. He said: “When I found out, it was a huge shock and a realisation just how lucky we are that we are able to play this great game. All our thoughts are obviously with James and his family. He tweeted his world has been turned upside down and of course it has, but when I spoke to him he understood that he is lucky still to be here.
“It’s a career cut very short but on the flipside, at least it’s been detected and we’re not talking about something far worse. Hopefully the operation goes well and we’ll see him around offering his huge talent to the game in a different way.”
Taylor appears to be remaining upbeat, taking to social media on Wednesday to tweet a picture of himself in a wheelchair outside City Hospital in Nottingham, with his thumbs up, and writing: “First bit of fresh air for a week, safe to say I’ve taken this for granted!”
Cook, also speaking to BBC Essex, confirmed that the right-hander had been set to continue his Test career against Sri Lanka this summer, having returned to the side against Pakistan in Sharjah last November following a three-year absence and been part of the side that went on to beat South Africa away.
“We were just starting to see the best of him,” the captain said. “He would have played in that first Test match against Sri Lanka. It’s a great shock and very sad but if there’s a guy who is able to handle what he’s going through, it’s him because of his character – that’s why he’d been such a successful cricketer. One of his great strengths was finding a way. He proved people wrong time and time again and was a great character to have around the dressing room.”