BENDIGO Cricket Club's quest to break a 10-year finals drought has gathered momentum with the appointment of BDCA legend Max Taylor as senior coach. Taylor replaces leg-spinner Tim Edwards, who will stay at the club as a player. When it comes to knowing how to win in Bendigo cricket, Taylor sits at the top of the tree.Vice-captain of the BDCA Team of the Century, 11 BDCA premierships, two BDCA Cricketer of the Year awards, captain of Eaglehawk's and White Hills' Team of the Century and 10 times club champion at Eaglehawk are just some of the accolades on Taylor's cricketing CV.Bendigo CC president Tony Fitzpatrick said Taylor was the perfect fit to lead their young squad."We've been fortunate to have Tim (Edwards) coach the club the last two years and hopefully Max can help take us to the next level,'' Fitzpatrick said."His record says it all. He has great respect from everyone in Bendigo cricket. We're very excited to have him on board.''Taylor has spent the past nine years umpiring Bendigo cricket where he was widely regarded as the premier umpire in the league.Having officiated in the past eight first XI grand finals, Taylor said it was time for a new challenge."I was looking for something different to do,'' Taylor said."I've had a few clubs contact me about coaching in the past few years, but I was really impressed with how professional Bendigo went about it."The way they handled it got me sucked in and I'm really looking forward to it.''Taylor was an assistant to David Rosaia for this year's successful Melbourne Country Week campaign and that taste of coaching reignited his desire to be involved at club level."I was only a minor part of that Country Week carnival, but it certainly played a part in getting me back into coaching,'' he said.From his umpiring duties Taylor has had a firsthand look at Bendigo in the past few seasons.The Goers have a strong junior program and Taylor is confident the club is on the right track.“The first XI side lost a couple of games they should have won last year and lost a couple by 10 runs and only finished a game-and-a-half outside the top four,'' Taylor said."They also beat Bendigo United pretty easily through the summer and they went on to win the premiership. There's some good kids coming through, so they're not far away. To start with we just need to improve on last year.''