Born in Nottingham on 25 March 1909 in The Meadows, Nottingham, Ron Taylor was a right-hand bat. He played club cricket for Notts Harrington and was taken on to the Trent Bridge staff in 1926, though he made little impact in Club & Ground matches for his first few seasons. In a pre-season trial in 1932 he hit a good 50, and several other useful performances early that year led to his inclusion in the Notts side v Northants in July, making 11 in each innings. He played in three other matches in 1932, but his best score was only 24.
In 1933 he had two First-Class matches, again with little success, but in 1934 he came into the side when Carr was ill and, versus Gloucestershire at Trent Bridge, he hit 60 assisting Keeton (261) in a stand of 177 for the third wicket. Then, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, he opened with Charlie Harris and added 180 for the first wicket, scoring 64 before being run out. His best innings came two games later against Sussex at Trent Bridge when he made 107 in 200 minutes, hitting nine fours. Taylor’s final First-Class match for Notts was versus Sussex at Hove in May 1935. His complete record for Notts was 23 First-Class matches, scoring 599 runs @18.15.
Against Hampshire at Southampton in 1934, he took over as wicket-keeper (when Lilley was stung on the hand) and took a stumping.
At the close of 1935 he left the Trent Bridge staff and joined the Nottingham City Police and after retiring became an office manager in a textile firm.
A cousin of George Duckworth, the Lancashire and England wicket-keeper, Taylor died in Nottingham on 29 August 1986, aged 77.
April 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 348