LONDON — Former England batsman James Taylor has had an operation to fit a defribillator as he continues treatment for the heart condition that dramatically cut short his cricket career.
In April, Taylor was forced into retirement at the age of just 26 after being diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC).
The condition means he can no longer take part in strenuous exercise, and following an initial course of treatment he has been fitted with a 'life vest' or external defibrillator - to prevent any recurrence of the problem.
Taylor tweeted a picture of himself in hospital Wednesday after surgery.
"Well, that was the best sleep ever??" he wrote. "At the bottom of a very steep hill, I can't wait to see the view from the top!"
Taylor played his seventh and final Test against South Africa at Centurion in January, and was preparing for the new season with Nottinghamshire when he began to feel unwell in the Midlands county's opening first-class fixture against a Cambridge student team at Fenner's.
Cook wants life bans for fixers
England captain Alastair Cook said Wednesday he wants all cricketers found guilty of match-fixing to be banned for life, but that he would be prepared to face Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir.
Left-arm quick Amir is in line for a Test return — having already made his comeback in white-ball international cricket — in the series opener against England at Lord's next month.
It was during a Lord's Test against England six years ago that Amir and two Pakistan teammates were involved in the deliberate bowling of no-balls — the trio having been lured into a newspaper 'sting' operation to demonstrate their willingness to take part in spot-fixing.
He has now served that ban and has now been included in the squad for a four-Test series starting at Lord's on July 14.
"It's kind of ironic that his first Test match will be here back at Lord's," Cook told reporters at the ground Wednesday ahead of the third Test between England and Sri Lanka.
"He's served his time. He's been punished for what he did, and quite rightly so, because we've got to protect the integrity of the game.
"But I have no problems in playing against him at all," said Cook, a member of the England side that faced Pakistan in the controversial 2010 clash.
However, the left-handed opener added: "My only thing is that if you get caught match-fixing, you should be banned for life.
"The punishment should be that hard, because we've got to protect the integrity.
"From my point of view, the punishment should be harsh to try to deter people from doing it. But that's from now on, that's if I had any say in it."
