'I should have died' - former England batter Taylor reflects on forced retirement

Some were even talking about the former England Lions captain leading his country one day. "I was so focused on keeping my place that I said to the main doctor, who luckily knew and loved his cricket, they just needed to get me right for three weeks' time which was England against Sri Lanka at Lord's," says Taylor, who averaged a respectable 42. 23 after 27 one-day internationals in addition to his seven Tests.

"I said, honestly at the bed side when I was dying, 'just get me ready for that game because I have worked so hard to get to this position and I have finally cemented my place in this Test team - I'm not giving up for anything'. "Obviously then he told me that I had pretty much had a heart attack, not exactly but there or thereabouts, and that was when I kind of knew that my life was going to change forever. " Taylor took two stunning catches at short leg during the third Test against South Africa in 2016 Taylor's retirement was announced six days after the initial incident but he remained in hospital for three weeks.

He was told his condition, similar to the one which affected footballer Fabrice Muamba , was usually only revealed post-mortem. "I had a round table with a load of cricket media and journalists and they mentioned all my hard work, graft and what it took to finally cement my place in an England team and honestly, I just burst out crying in front of them all," Taylor says. "It had meant so much to me, it meant so much to so many people and that really, really hurt, not being able to do that any more.

" In the years after his retirement, Taylor channeled his professional juices into golf, becoming a scratch player within three and a half years. He also worked as a commentator for Test Match Special and then became a selector with England in 2018. "At that stage, I just wanted to do things that I enjoyed and that I could make a difference in," he says.