Winchester pace bowler Billy Taylor has been signed by Sussex - two years after being snubbed by Hampshire.

Taylor, 22, signed a one-year contract with Sussex yesterday after a series of impressive Second XI Championship performances.

He snapped up 15 wickets in separate three-day matches for Sussex against Lancashire and Derbyshire, and bowled well against Surrey this week.

Before spending the winter in New Zealand, he probably thought his prospects of a first-class career were over.

He had failed to impress Hampshire two years ago, taking only five wickets in five Second XI appearances in 1997.

And, despite winning the Southern League's individual bowling award last summer, he bagged only 18 victims in Minor Counties cricket with Wiltshire.

But a wicket-strewn winter in New Zealand's Central Districts prompted a major upturn in Taylor's fortunes.

The Townhill Park seamer said: "I worked hard on my fitness, sweating it out in the gym and running on the beach, but the adjustments I've made to my bowling action have paid real dividends.

"I introduced more of a curve into my run-up and found that bowling with Kookaburra balls which have a less pronounced seam required a variation to my natural away-swing delivery."

Taylor's return to English conditions - and his new-found ability to cut the ball back into the batsman - have served him well.

He added: "The Dukes and Reader balls swing and seam more.

"Now I've got another potential wicket-taking ball in my armoury."

Despite his newly-attained professional status, Taylor will continue to play Southern League cricket for Winchester KS at weekends.

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