Carl’s fresh cahllenge at Royton

Carl Taylor

PROLIFIC wicket-taker Carl Taylor will play for Royton in the Lake Garage CLL in 2015.

He has decided to take a break from Crompton, the club with which he has been associated since the age of 10.

The decision was taken mainly on family grounds – and a request from his late father-in-law, Trevor Lewis, the Royton stalwart who died in May, this year.

Taylor (34) said: “I have been at Crompton since I was a boy, but Royton have been asking me to go there for a couple of seasons.

“My wife (Gillian) and mother-in-law (Maureen) are down there a lot so most of our summers have been spent apart while I have been playing for Crompton.

“And Trevor asked me to go and play there, so I will be doing it for him as well.”

Taylor has, in the last two seasons, been one of the leading bowlers in the CLL’s Championship, but is now keen to step up to the league’s top tier.

He said: “I’d like to see if I can take 60 wickets in a season just as I did in the second division.

“I told Simon Wright (Crompton skipper) about my decision and although he was disappointed, he fully understood my reasons.

”Crompton has always been my club and I will still call in to see the lads, but I just felt I wanted to try somewhere else for one or two seasons.

“My brother, Danny, did that at Moorside and Simon himself went to Norden.

“I have a lot of friends at Royton, so the transition should not be too bad, and even though it’s not even Christmas yet I’m already really looking forward to the challenge of playing in the top division.”