James Taylor column: England's series win over South Africa 'massive'

'Victory at Centurion next step to longer-term goal of World No 1 spot'

By James Taylor, England Cricketer

Image: What an amazing few hours and what a spell of bowling from Broady!

James Taylor blogs on England's celebrations, those short leg catches plus visiting a lion park and Mamelodi township...

Winning my first Test series with England feels amazing, and we owe it to ourselves and all the fans who have been brilliant here in South Africa and on social media to put in a massive effort at Centurion and make it 3-0.

Stuart Broad's spell on the third day was unbelievable and I experienced some of the best feelings I've ever had on a cricket field when I took those two catches at short leg off him and Finny.

Broady takes 6-17 as South Africa are skittled for 83...

Broady's skill level was unbelievable. He got a lot of stick from the crowd but he thrives on that type of attention and once again rose to the occasion.

It was the first time I've been in a team when something like that has happened for us - I'm usually on the receiving end of those types of performances!

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By the time I joined Rooty in the middle, all the hard work had been done and it was just a question of getting over the line.

We stayed in the dressing room for a good few hours afterwards enjoying each other's success, singing loads of team songs and soaking it all in.

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Image: What a day!

Beefy, Athers and Wardy popped in to see us and it was nice to share the moment because they're good guys who we see a lot of on tour.

Taking those catches made it all the more amazing. I worked really hard on my technique in the build-up to the Test with Paul Farbrace, focusing on keeping my weight going forward and keeping my hands together.

An insight into my training regime...

Paul started wearing boxing mitts in practice recently, using them to belt the ball at me and simulate really sharp catches. Drills like that don't always pay off quickly, but luckily it did for me this time.

I spoke with Broady and Jimmy about being a fraction deeper at short leg to Hashim Amla, because he's strong through the leg-side. I'm not there to take the ones off the face but the extra bounce at the Wanderers means it's important to give yourself a little more time.

As soon as he hit it, I was thinking 'keep your hands together" so I'd have a better chance of getting my fingertips underneath the ball and it sticking. When they stick, it's a great feeling and luckily they both did.

When they stick, it's a great feeling...

I tried my best to get rid of the short leg when I was batting earlier in the Test but it obviously didn't work because he caught me out shortly afterwards!

A gripping moment that had short leg ducking for cover...

Sometimes when I cut, my hands slide up the handle a little and this time they obviously slipped a little too far and I launched the bat to the edge of the square!

It's happened to me a couple of times before but the bat has never quite gone that far - it's just one of those things that can happen when you go so hard at the ball.

Image: A great day out with Chris Woakes, Steve Finn, Alex Hales, Gary Ballance and Jos Buttler...

It's been good to chill out in between Tests and a few of us went and visited a lion park, where we also saw some cheetahs.

Finny drove us around and we saw loads of different things; it's important to take in those sorts of experiences while you're here and it was a really worthwhile trip.

Image: Shock... another South African doesn't like me!!

The squad went to Mamelodi township to do a few hours' coaching with the kids there. I was really impressed with the high skill level of the fielding and throwing in particular.

I feel in a really good place with my game at the moment and hopefully I can finish on a high at Centurion.

I felt really good at Durban but rather missed the boat on a flat one at Cape Town, so I'm desperate to get a big score under my belt.

Our goal is to become the number one team in the world but right now, our focus is on finishing this series strongly rather than looking too far ahead.

Watch the fourth Test between South Africa and England, live on Sky Sports 2 this Friday from 8am.

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