Taylor takes Cricket Writers' award

James Taylor has been recognised for his fine form this season: 1,817 championship runs at an average of 66

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Leicestershire batsman James Taylor has been named Cricket Writers’ Club Young Cricketer of the Year, beating England all-rounder Stuart Broad into second place.

Taylor, 19, polled almost twice the number of votes cast for Broad, who won the award three years ago.

England Under-19 international Taylor scored 1,817 LV= County Championship runs in 16 matches this season, averaging 66 and making three hundreds and six half-centuries.

The CWC award is in its 60th year and to win players must be under 23 on May 1 and England-qualified.

Former winners include Fred Trueman, Sir Ian Botham and David Gower, while eight former recipients have played for England this summer.

Since it was first awarded in 1950, only 10 winners have failed to play Test cricket for England. One, Birmingham-born all-rounder Andrew Symonds, went on to represent Australia.