Tom Taylor: Northamptonshire win race for Leicestershire allrounder's signature

Tom Taylor is set to join Northamptonshire after rejecting a new contract at Leicestershire.

Taylor, the 25-year-old allrounder, is out of contract at the end of the season. While Leicestershire are understood to have pushed their budget as far as they could in a bid to keep him, he has opted to move to the third Midlands county of his career. Taylor started out at Derbyshire and moved to Leicestershire ahead of the 2018 season.

It is understood that several other counties – including Warwickshire – have expressed a passing interest in Taylor over recent months, but Northants have won the race for his signature.

The move is a blow to Leicestershire. While they have become accustomed to losing players to more affluent rivals – notably Nottinghamshire – to lose out to another club with a limited budget is a setback.

But Northamptonshire were promoted to Division One of the County Championship at the end of 2019 – Leicestershire were bottom of Division Two – and are currently second in the Central Group in the Vitality Blast. Leicestershire are third in the North Group.

Leicestershire’s disappointment is increased as they feel they had nursed Taylor through a couple of serious back injuries and considered him a central figure in their team redevelopment. They have already announced they will not be selecting him in the remaining Vitality Blast matches as they look to provide opportunities to other players instead.