Steven Taylor axed as USA captain

The opening batsman of USA, Steven Taylor, has been axed as a captain of the side less than a year after he was appointed to lead in last October. According to reports, the decision is being regarded as a mutual one between him and team management. Recently, Taylor made playing first-class cricket for Jamaica a priority in his pursuit of a West Indies cap.

The native of Florida is now living full time in Jamaica after being awarded a full contract by the Jamaica Scorpions franchise. Hence, he has been left out altogether from the USA squad for the Auty Cup series against Canada. He is also expected to be unavailable for a tour to the UAE being planned for late 2017 due to his commitments with Jamaica. But the 23-year-old is willing to play for the USA in the important tournaments like World T20 qualifiers as long as it does not conflict with Jamaica commitments.

Steven Taylor at the helm

Taylor was appointed as the skipper of the USA team at a very early age of 23. His first assignment at the helm was the Auty Cup series in Los Angeles, which Canada won 2-1. But a month later he led his team to victory in WCL Division Four. He also played one of his best innings in the tournament when he scored 124 off 95 balls against Oman in an eight-wicket win over them.

However, he could not replicate the same at WCL Division Three in Uganda this May. The batsman enjoyed little success as both player and the captain as he could cross the 50-run mark just once in six matches and finished with mere 126 runs. Consequently, his team failed to gain promotion to Division Two but his 5-wicket haul in the final league game saved the USA from getting relegated.

CPL

Steven Taylor was the part of the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League where he represented Guyana Amazon Warriors. He played only two games in the tournament but was one of the highest paid amongst the USA cricketers with 30,000 $. Guyana Amazon Warriors qualified for the playoffs with some amazing cricket and their campaign was ended after a loss to Trinbago Knight Riders who were the eventual winners of the tournament.