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The Boxing Day test against Pakistan will be Ross Taylor’s 438th game for the Black Caps, more than any other player.
Two Black Caps are about to bring important milestones, but one has more to do than the other when the first test against Pakistan begins on Boxing Day.
Ross Taylor simply has to arrive at Bay Oval on Mount Maunganui in one piece to become the most capped Black Cap in history, with 438 international appearances to his name in all three formats.
As it stands, he’s tied up with Daniel Vettori, who has kept that mantle up since he took it off Stephen Fleming in 2011, at 437.
It is not broadcast frequently, and it is very possible that it will never be broadcast again.
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Martin Guptill, now a white ball specialist, has made 324 appearances over the years, while Kane Williamson will make his 295th on Boxing Day and Tim Southee his 294th, but less international cricket is now played than in the United States. Taylor’s early years. race, and it will take a lot of effort for someone to catch it.
The obvious caveat is that we don’t know what the future of the game will look like. Many would never have anticipated that Twenty20 would become what it has and appearance records could fall in a flash if the 2050 Black Caps find themselves playing multiple Five5 matches a day.
“I was really happy to play a game or two for New Zealand,” was what Taylor said when he raised the milestone with him in November.
“I have yet to get there first, but my mentor, Martin Crowe, always used to say that records are bound to be broken for the next player to come along.”
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Black Caps closing Tim Southee is four wickets away from having 300 wickets in test cricket.
The other Black Cap approaching a milestone is the second-oldest member of the team, Southee, who is four scalps short of claiming 300 proving grounds.
Only Hadlee (431) and Daniel Vettori (361) have arrived from New Zealand before, although Trent Boult (272) will almost certainly join them in time.
Southee began the year watching from the bench in Sydney, where he rested amid worries about his workload, a decision he personally described as “disappointing.”
He has appeared in every test since then, winning 4-49 and 5-61 then 2-38 and 3-36 against India at the end of last summer and claiming series player honors, then 4-35 and 1-62 and 5-32 and 2-96 against the West Indies: a total of 26 wickets in four games.
Even if he runs out of a wicket at Mount, 2020 will be the most productive year of Southee’s test run – he’s taken an average of 6.5 wickets per game and 3.25 wickets per inning, marks he hadn’t come close to before.
Talking to Stuff On Christmas Eve, the 32-year-old said the long break between games during the winter due to the Covid-19 pandemic had been helpful.
NZC
Black Caps captain Kane Williamson returns to training after the birth of his first child.
“You try to see the positives and I think it was really nice to have that forced rest and let the body recover and cool down, then work a little through the winter to come back and start this season.
“As an international athlete, you are always looking for ways to improve and you are always looking for ways to improve your game and every year you reflect.
“Obviously it’s good to take grounds, but sometimes you can still feel pretty good and feel like you’re doing a good job, but you don’t necessarily have anything in the ground column.
“It is going quite well at the moment and I hope it can continue throughout the summer.”
