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A profound sadness prevailed over the cricket world when the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Tuesday that one of its most promising young stars, the 26-year old James Taylor, had been forced to announce his retirement after being diagnosed with an incurable heart condition, Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy.

Taylor was a fighter. When he first made the English team in 2012, his diminutive stature (5 feet 6 inches) led many, including, famously, Kevin Pietersen, to write him off. His response was to score runs by the bucketloads and ensure the selectors could not ignore him. And when he returned in 2015, it was to live up to expectations, scoring keys runs, including a match-winning century in a One Day International against old rivals Australia (video above).

England went on an overseas tour to South Africa at the end of the year, widely considered one of cricket's toughest assignments, and won the series 2-1. Taylor was an integral member of the team – besides scoring runs, he was a livewire on the field as well.

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England had bigger plans for him. He captained the team in a one-off ODI against Ireland in 2015, but life obviously had other plans. And as he recovers from his condition, one thing is clear – cricket has lost one of its brightest young talents.