James Taylor, the Nottinghamshire and England batsman who scored 76 on his return to Test cricket against Pakistan, says he was far too excited to be nervous ahead of compiling his career-best score.
The 25-year-old is representing his country in whites for the first time in over three years in the series defining fixture in Sharjah, and he capped his comeback with a maiden half-century.
But, with Pakistan leading by 74 runs with seven second innings wickets still standing heading into the fourth day, the Notts Outlaws skipper knows there is plenty more batting still to do.
“I was more excited (than nervous) to be fair,” he said. “I know these tracks aid the spinners so I love playing out here.
“I’m enjoying my cricket more than I’ve ever enjoyed it and luckily I got a few yesterday and felt good at the crease.
“They are obviously very good bowlers and I’ve never faced them before. In their own conditions, on spinning wickets it was a good challenge.
“I tried to be as busy as possible and not to let them settle. I stuck to that game plan the whole way through.”
Pakistan have progressed to 146-3 in their second innings with Mohammad Hafeez 97 not out overnight.
Taylor admits early wickets will be crucial on the fourth morning but refused to be drawn on a maximum score that England believe they can chase.
“It’s well and truly in the balance at the minute,” he said. “If we can get a couple of quick ones we’re right in there.
“The wicket is playing better than it has all day. It’s obviously a decent batting track and they are playing well at the minute.
“I never set limits and I haven’t thought too far ahead. We’ll take it session-by-session and if we can get early breakthroughs in the morning you never now what we can chase.”
Taylor had been 74 not out overnight ahead of day three having expertly tackled the spinning and reverse-swinging ball with a combination of resilient defence and balletic footwork.
The Nottinghamshire man - who scored 3658 runs for his county at an average of 45.16 during his three year hiatus from Test cricket - managed to add just two runs to his overnight score and admitted he was unhappy with the nature of his dismissal, caught behind fencing at a wide one from Rahat Ali.
“You always enjoy sleeping when you’ve got a few runs under your belt,” he said.
“But I was frustrated and bitterly disappointed with the way I got out today.
“I got out at a bad time, particularly with the way the pitch is playing at the minute.”
The experienced seam duo of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, meanwhile, have so far bowled a combined 54.1 overs in the match, recording remarkable figures of eight for 85 - and Taylor believes England’s new ball duo has kept them in the contest.
“They’ve showed a lot of character and got their just reward,” he said.
“They have been outstanding all series. The way they are bowling in tandem, their discipline has meant their economy has been outstanding. They have kept us in it.”
The 2015 season has seen dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.
Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.