By Rob Stewart
Huddersfield-born former Town and Yorkshire player Ken Taylor has been hailed as a “Yorkshire sporting great” following his death at the age of 91.
Taylor, who was brought up in Primrose Hill, had the distinction of lining up alongside some of British sport’s most iconic names in a distinguished sporting career.
He played as a centre-back for the Terriers under legendary manager Bill Shankly alongside Denis Law at Leeds Road and as an opening bat helped Yorkshire to multiple county titles with the likes of Geoff Boycott and Brian Close.
Today, Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves and former Town team-mate Kevin McHale joined forces to pay tribute to Taylor who died at home in Norfolk following a long battle with dementia.
Graves said: “I didn’t know Ken personally but I remember watching him when he was at the height of his powers when I was a young lad growing up in Goole so I know he was a bloody good cricketer.
“What marks him out is that Ken was part of a very rare breed of people who excelled as professionals in dual sports – something that’s been very uncommon down the years and virtually impossible to do these days.
“He was way ahead of his time in terms of what he achieved as a cricketer and footballer and he excelled at both of them, especially on the cricket field.
“Everyone respected him and appreciated what a class act he was and I was fortunate enough as a kid to see him opening the batting with Brian Stott for Yorkshire when they headed to Hull to play at The Circle cricket ground.
“They played alongside people like Brian Close and Doug Padgett and I remember Ken being a great batsman in an era which was totally different to today because onset of one-day cricket which emerged towards the end of their career.
“It was all red-ball, Championship cricket and he established himself as a top-class cricketer.
“Ken will always be remembered as one of the greats of Yorkshire cricket and the club always held him in the highest esteem.
“Ken had an amazing track record and is one of the people who make Yorkshire County Cricket Club such a great institution.
“Everyone associated with Yorkshire cricket will have fond memories of Ken Taylor. We kept track of Ken and even though, at 91, he had a good innings, we’re all saddened by his death.”
Taylor made his Yorkshire debut at the age of 17 and made 303 first-class appearances, winning seven County Championship titles between 1959 and 1968 as well as a Gillette Cup triumph.
He amassed 12,864 runs, including 16 centuries and a career-best 203 not out against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1961.
Taylor was also a medium-pace bowler, taking 129 wickets with career-best figures of six for 75 against Lancashire in a Roses game at Old Trafford in 1961.
He played three Test matches for England, twice against India in 1959 and once against Australia in 1964.
On the football front, Taylor joined Town after leaving school in 1950, playing 269 times between 1953 and 1965, before joining Bradford Park Avenue.
McHale said: “Ken must surely be classed as the greatest sportsman that Huddersfield has ever produced.
“There was no end to his sporting talents and I know from experience that he was a really good defender who was very good with the ball but also very brave.
“I remember once we played down at Swansea and he ended up having to have stitches put in a leg wound and as the doctor was doing his work, Ken just chatted to us as if nothing had happened, without a care in the world.
“He was hard but fair and was comfortable with the ball at his feet and he was the ideal team-mate, especially as I was coming through the ranks with Denis just behind him.
“For me he will go down as one of Town’s all-time greats and his cricketing skills even came to the fore every now and again.
“I always remember snow covered Leeds Road and we had a competition to see if anyone could throw a snowball to the back of the stand.
“We all had a go and then Ken stepped forward and hurled his snowball straight over the stand. We all stood there gobsmacked.”
Taylor, whose brother Jeff was a professional footballer and opera singer, also went to the prestigious Slade School of Art in London and went on to be a highly-respected painter.
Ken’s son Nick, who also played for Yorkshire, added: “Dad was proud of his Huddersfield roots, growing up in a two-up, two-down in Primrose Hill.
“Dad and his brother would play in the ginnel next to their home which is where they honed their cricket skills.
“You had to bat straight and bowl straight because if you didn’t your bat would clatter the wall and the ball would do the same because it was so narrow.
“He got lucky in that his teacher up the road at Stile Common, a chap called Wally Heap, encouraged his cricket and he never looked back after playing for Primrose Hill.
“Dad was always extremely fond of his old team-mates but above all he was a wonderful family man.
“The proudest moment of my life was walking through the gates at Headingley with my dad to start my professional cricket career with Yorkshire.
“It meant the world to me because dad was always a source of encouragement for me and made cricket fun but he was definitely the best batsman I ever bowled at – and that includes Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and Sunil Gavaskar.
“He was extremely humble, mild-mannered and unassuming and would never brag about playing for England or anything like that. It was only when people asked him about it that he’d open up.”
