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With the first test between the Black Caps and Pakistan underway at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, Ross Taylor is now the player who has most represented New Zealand in international cricket, with 438 matches against Daniel Vettori’s 437 – 104 in the tests, 232 in one. -international days, and 102 in international Twenty20.
Phil Walter / Getty Images
The Black Caps line up for the national anthem during Test 1 against Pakistan – Ross Taylor’s 438th game for New Zealand in all formats.
To mark the occasion, Stuff has taken a look at XI of Taylor’s most memorable matches.
1
ODI vs. West Indies; McLean Park, Napier; March 1, 2006
Taylor’s first taste of international cricket came nearly 15 years ago, batting at No. 4, behind Lou Vincent, captain Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle. He was not very lucky for beginners, as he ran out of 15 of 10 balls while batting with Scott Styris, but the Black Caps went 324-6 and posted a 91-run victory, taking a 4-0 lead in the series. five games.
5
ODI against Sri Lanka; McLean Park, Napier; December 28, 2006
Taylor was not selected for the Champions Trophy in India during the 2006 New Zealand winter, where the Black Caps lost to Australia in the final, but returned to the white ball team for a pair of T20s against Sri Lanka, then the ODI Series , where he began scoring his first international century: 128 undefeated in 133 balls. Unfortunately, Sanath Jayasuriya was in his pomp for tourists, and they chased 286 with seven wickets in hand and 10 overs to spare.
Ross Setford / NZPA
Ross Taylor plays a shooting shot on his way to making his first century for the Black Caps, in an ODI against Sri Lanka in 2006.
19
ODI in Australia; Eden Park, Auckland; February 18, 2007
Taylor’s second century ODI helped establish a famous victory in the second of three Chappell-Hadlee series games against Australia in early 2007, at Eden Park in Auckland. Chasing 337 to win, he made 117 of 127 balls, before Peter Fulton (76 of 65), Craig McMillan (52 of 30) and Brendon McCullum (22 of 12) finished the job.
53
Test against England; Seddon Park, Hamilton; March 5-9, 2008
After being thrown to the bottom for his debut series, two tests in South Africa towards the end of 2007, Taylor was eliminated when Bangladesh visited him in early 2007, but returned for the England visit that followed and began the series scoring. his first century of testing at Seddon Park. He sat at 98 for 10 balls, but went to 102 with a Steven Harmison hook for four and finished with 120 to help set up a 189-run win. It was the beginning of a love affair with Seddon Park, where Taylor has played more games than at any other field, scoring six testing centuries and four ODI centuries.
170
ODI against Pakistan; Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy; March 8, 2011
Taylor has been to four Cricket World Cups and hit 33 times, but only once hit 100, in this group stage match at the 2011 event, hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The Black Caps had started with a win over Kenya and a loss to Australia and were 210-6 with 25 balls remaining batting first before Taylor exploded, scoring 55 of the last 13 balls he faced to finish undefeated at 131 of 124. The Black Caps finished 302-7 and won by 110 runs.
206
Test against Sri Lanka; P Sara Oval, Colombo; November 25-29, 2012
In his final test as captain, Taylor made 142 in the first inning and 74 of a total of 194 in the second inning to lead the Black Caps to a 167-run victory, their first in Sri Lanka in 14 years. The captain’s shots were very special, because as he revealed after returning home, he had been told that he was “not good enough to captain the team” in a meeting with management before the series. It would sit out of the next Black Caps test series in South Africa in January 2013 and would not do another century of testing for more than a year.
232
First test against West Indies; 2013; Otago Oval University, Dunedin; 3-7 December 2013
These should be the three tests against the West Indies, which marked a return to form for Taylor after the captaincy saga in late 2012 and his rejoining the team in early 2013. In the first in Dunedin he made 217 not off. – its first double century – and 16th was not; in the second he did 129; and in the third he made 131 and two were not eliminated, for a total of 495 races with an average of 247.5, the best series return of his career.
296
Evidence against Australia; Look, Perth; November 13-17, 2015
When Taylor arrived in the Waca area in Perth, the Black Caps were 87-2 in response to Australia’s 559-9 and were struggling to avoid a second straight loss to end the series. When he left for 290, after spending nearly 10 hours in the middle, a draw had become the most likely outcome. The only shame was that he failed to become a triple centurion, choosing a deep square leg with a Nathan Lyon sweep, 11 overs in a 10th-field partnership with Trent Boult. It was, and still is, the highest score by a visiting hitter in Australia.
Paul Kane / Getty Images
Ross Taylor drives on his way to making 290 against Australia in Perth in 2015.
368
ODI against England; Otago Oval University, Dunedin; March 17, 2018
Taylor made an undefeated 181, his highest ODI score, when the Black Caps chased 336 to beat England at the University of Otago Oval in Dunedin and set up a winner-take-all showdown in the final game of a five-game series. What made him even more impressive was the fact that he scored his last 72 runs with 41 balls and in one leg, after sustaining an injury while in the box.
431
Evidence against India; Basin Reserve, Wellington; February 21-24, 2020
Taylor became the fourth New Zealander to play 100 tests by beating India by 10 wickets at Basin Reserve in February, as well as the first cricketer to play 100 games in all three international formats. He made 44 in the first innings, but it was the bowlers who led the way, with Tim Southee taking 4-49 and 5-61 and Kyle Jamieson taking 4-39 in the first innings of debut.
Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
Ross Taylor hits during his 100th Test for the Black Caps against India at Basin Reserve in February 2020.
438
Test against Pakistan; Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui; December 26-30, 2020
Taylor was set to hit this milestone in March, having been the only Black Cap to appear in every game they played last summer. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck, leaving you five fewer. His omission of the T20 team to face Pakistan earlier this month further delayed the milestone, but he ultimately succeeded.
He is now one ahead of Vettori at the top of New Zealand’s all-time appearances list, with four other active players occupying places in the top 20: Martin Guptill, who is fifth at 324; Kane Williamson, seventh with 295; Tim Southee, eighth with 294; and Trent Boult, 19th with 189.
A total of 5,169 players have played some form of international cricket, but only 19 of them have played more games than Taylor, a group that includes Vettori, who made five World XIs appearances that do not count towards his Black Caps account.
