James Taylor lifts the lid on short leg, where fielders stand inches from the bat and chase the thrill of a ball coming straight at them.
Picture Boothill Graveyard on the edge of Tombstone, Arizona, where gunslingers who died with their boots on lie buried after shootouts that lasted seconds. That is the image James Taylor invokes for short leg, cricket's most unforgiving fielding position, and he knows the spot better than most.
Short leg means standing a few paces from the batter, crouched on the leg side, with only a helmet and pads for protection. One flick off the pads or a mistimed pull can send a hard ball at the body at frightening speed. Most players would rather be anywhere else. Taylor wanted to be there.
He says he actively wanted the ball to be hit at him. For Taylor, the job was not about surviving. It was about chasing what he calls moments of pure elation, the instant a chance arrives, the reflexes take over and a catch sticks. Fear and joy sit very close together in that position.
There is also a strange intimacy to it. The short leg fielder is close enough to hear the batter breathe, sense their nerves and share the tension of every delivery. It is a duel played out at arm's length, and for the brave few who take the position, it is the most alive place on a cricket field.
