Cricket North: Alistair Taylor growth impressed Launceston coach

That's the view of club coach Andy Gower after the keeper-batsman whacked his second ton of the season - a match-winning 152 against Riverside - to nab his third player of the round award for 2020-21.

Now into his fourth year as skipper, Taylor is enjoying a career-best season as the Lions close in on a Cricket North grand final berth.

His 733 runs across all formats this campaign marks the biggest season of his career, but it's his leadership that most impresses his coach.

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"AT's a terrific person and a terrific player and he's really developed his leadership skills over the last three to four years," Gower said.

"He was quite a young fella when I coached there last time and we had lots of chats about different things and he took all that on board and he's developed into a really strong leader among the group.

"The way he trains and the way he goes about it really sets a standard."

Seemingly only one win away from an automatic grand final berth, the Lions have lost just once all season - a six-wicket defeat to Westbury in the T20 cup grand final.

The growth of James Curran, Cam Lynch and Ben Humphrey and the young talent coming through second and third grade has Gower confident that the Lions' success could extend well beyond just this season.

"We're a really mature group at the moment and the guys are really on board with what we're trying to achieve, the culture and where we're going this season and AT's certainly been at the head of driving that," Gower said.

"He works extremely hard on his game - he understands his game better than anyone and he's always hitting balls.

"I just think he's at a stage in his career where he wants some success and to do that he knows what he needs to do.

"I'm extremely proud of the way he he leads the side, he's a fantastic captain."

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