SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — A new date of July 20 was set yesterday for West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor to return to Court to answer charges following an altercation with a police officer on December 30.

Taylor’s lawyer, Velma Hylton, told the Observer that the prosecuting officer was not in the Santa Cruz Resident’s Magistrate’s Court yesterday when her client turned up in response to charges of improper conduct, assaulting the police and resisiting arrest.

Hylton said the new “mention date” was decided on in recognition of the fact that Taylor was likely to be on overseas assignment in the intevening period.

Allegations are that on the night of Wednesday, December 30, Taylor abused a police sergeant who entered a bar in Junction, SE St Elizabeth, in which the 25-year-old cricketer was sitting with friends.

The police officer was said to be in the process of warning the bartender for keeping the establishment open beyond the stipulated time under the rules governing spirit licences when Taylor intervened.

Taylor, considered the lead West Indies fast bowler alongside the Barbadian Fidel Edwards, is recovering from a back strain sustained in Australia during the West Indies tour of that country late last year.