In a lineup short on experience and on a Sharjah pitch that has spun from the first morning, it felt reassuring that, following the departure of the in-form Alastair Cook and Joe Root shortly after lunch on the second day, a former England captain should walk out to the middle to settle things down.
It is easy to forget James Taylor, playing in his third Test match some three years after his previous two, has led England out on to the field this year; one of those head-patting one-day internationals against Ireland in May that lasted 18 overs before relentless rain in Malahide washed it out.
That miserable match is remembered chiefly for being the day that Peter Moores learned – not through his employers – of his sacking as head coach, with Taylor facing the cameras after play to answer tough questions about the unconfirmed departure of a man whom he holds in the highest regard.
The pair’s alliance in charge of the national side may have been brief but their reunion at Nottinghamshire during the summer feels key to Taylor’s return to Test cricket, with Moores’ arrival at Trent Bridge at the end of June as a consultant certainly coinciding with the 25-year-old’s upsurge in form.
Speaking to the Guardian last week, a generous acceptance of a request that is indicative of his positive mind-set, Taylor revealed that with Moores net sessions that previously may have been coasted through in the long, grinding county season were no longer an option; every throwdown and every drill had something on it.
The dam burst two weeks after Moores’ appointment, with a career-best 291 against Sussex followed by two more hundreds in the County Championship and a first for England against Australia in the third one-day international at Old Trafford. That innings told him he could do it.
Taylor may be short in stature – don’t those who tick off his commentary bingo sheet know it – but he flew out with the team high on confidence, only to sit in the wings and dutifully run the drinks for the first two Tests, despite seeming to be naturally one of the best equipped to cope with the conditions.
Loyalty from the management to Jonny Bairstow as a batsman, and Jos Buttler as wicketkeeper, forced the wait. On the trickiest surface of the three, however, and England 137 runs behind Pakistan’s first-innings total after the captain and his deputy had trudged off, he produced the goods with cool authority for an unbeaten 74 from 141 balls – his maiden Test half-century.
If Taylor was looking to cement a place on the tour to South Africa in December, his first partner out in the middle, Ian Bell, was batting like a man playing for his future, with a sedentary 16 runs in the afternoon session forcing a man with 115 caps fewer to make more of the running as Pakistan smelt blood.
Along with quick footwork and a rock-solid sweep, this is among Taylor’s chief assets, of course, with a scampering – dare we say – busy approach that makes him the mightiest of mice and the perfect antidote to a turgid outfield that has so far offered reduced value for shots and a leg-spinner, in Yasir Shah, sitting second in the current rankings.
Bell’s removal after tea, stumped for only the second time in his Test career, when he was defending a fizzing leg-break from Yasir on 40, provided Taylor with a slightly more proactive foil in Bairstow. The Yorkshireman may not always look as at home against the spinning ball but he, too, has a point to prove and his unbeaten 37 from 94 balls went some way towards doing so.
The pair’s unbroken stand of 83 has the makings of being a match-winning one in a Test low on runs but high on intrigue.
Only the stone-hearted or sizeist – you know who you are – will begrudge Taylor this return to the longest form of the game. In terms of the series, still open to be drawn, it comes better late than never.
