Ross Taylor prepares to take his final bow for New Zealand with a sense of pride – Stuff

A man who was proud to represent his country and play with a smile on his face.

Ross Taylors not yet willing to fully reflect on an international cricketing career which will end in his hometown on Monday night.

But the 38-year-old, when pushed and prodded in a manner antithetical to the way he has batted for New Zealand over the past 16 years, admitted hes pieced together a large body of work hugely worthy of being proud of.

Taylor will be celebrated over the next two one-day internationals between the Black Caps and the Netherlands in Hamilton on Saturday and Monday as a player who has made more appearances for his country over the three formats than other New Zealander.

But it could have been an awful lot fewer when Taylor lost his job as national team captain in 2012, in the process of making 142 and 74 while guiding his side to their first away test win over Sri Lanka in more than a decade.

Brendon McCullum was installed as the new leader under coach Mike Hesson and a hurt Taylor took some time away from the game to decide how best to react.

It doesnt feel like it was nine or 10 years ago, Taylor said this week.

It just goes to show what kind of career Ive had that it was that long ago.

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Since debuting as a fresh-faced 22-year-old in 2006, Luteru Ross Taylor has gone to become arguably the Black Caps' greatest ever batsman.

It could have affected people in different ways I was happy with the way I dealt with it at the time and continued to represent my country proudly and play with a smile on my face.

It could have been easy to have moved on and done something different, but theres only one New Zealand cricket team to play for. I was happy with the decisions I made.

That led to what will be 450 appearances for New Zealand, compiling 18,184 runs through a beguiling mixture of cuts, cover drives, leg glances and slog-sweeps among them.

Im proud of a lot of things, Taylor said.

A lot of the team successes over the years, winning the World Test Championship, playing in a couple of World Cup finals.

Obviously scoring a few hundreds.

The team had a transition phase Ive seen the downside of the team during its low periods, and Ive seen it during its high periods.

I think the teams evolved organically over the years for the better and its nice to have been part of that.

Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson celebrate NZs victory over India in the ICC World Test Championship Final in Southampton last June.

Taylor has taken a relaxed approach over his last three ODIs, after bowing out of the test arena in January in memorable fashion, taking a wicket to seal an innings win over Bangladesh in Christchurch.

The most pressure hes faced of late has been dealing with the demands for tickets from friends and family for the two games at Seddon Park after Covid-19 crowd restrictions were lifted.

However, Taylor said playing out the final years of his career amid the demands brought by a worldwide pandemic had taxed him mentally.

Its definitely been a tough couple of years.

I enjoy playing cricket and playing a lot of it whereas leading into the Indian series, I didnt have a hit. You go from playing 10 months of the year to the last couple of summers which have been affected quite considerably.

Living in bubbles overseas has certainly been something to get used to, but in saying that, Im probably fortunate to have the career Ive had.

It must be pretty tough on the guys that are just starting their careers in such a disjointed way thats just not the normal.

But you play cricket, youre representing your country and you know the sacrifices that are needed to do that. Thats one of them. It doesnt mean it becomes easier it probably becomes harder once the kids are older and understand that Dad is going away, said the father of three.

But Ive been very fortunate to have a supportive wife and family thats helped out along the way. And theyve been able to see parts of the world that they probably never would have at their age if it wasnt for cricket as well.

Taylor said hes still looking forward to playing in a few tournaments around the world and then playing for Central Districts in some capacity next summer.

Paul Kane/Getty Images

The scoreboard displays the first innings score for Ross Taylor when New Zealand met Australia in the second test in Perth in 2015.

Hell play his final game for the Black Caps in a format he rated as his best, while pondering what could have been in the shortest style.

Twenty 20 cricket, its great fun playing, definitely not a great game batting in the middle order if I had my time again, I would have opened the batting, thats definitely the easiest place to bat in that format.

In test cricket, I was proud of the way I turned myself into a test cricketer.

I had reservations whether I could do it.

I knew I could play to some extent, but its whether youre going to have a successful career and I was happy with the changes I made, and to have the longevity as well. Test cricket is about patience but then at the same time, youve got to try and be true to yourself, and I was always a strokemaker.

It was trying to find that balance between defence and attack and not being too defensive, because that can also stifle people.

Ive had a lot of help from a lot of people, and Martin Crowe was a big part of that.

Cricket is a very mental game, and the way you work on your mental side as a player, as a captain, as a batter, and continually trying to improve in all those facets.

Ever the batter, Taylor plumped for three of the same ilk when asked to nominate the best players hes faced, leaving the bowlers out in the cold.

All players go through different stages of where they are hot.

The two that weve caught at their best Ricky Ponting, there was a summer when he was at the top of his game and it was like he could do anything. [Virat] Kohli was at that stage too when weve played him just unreal really.

Chris Gayle, he used to score runs against us for fun.

Taylor may step away from cricket when he puts his bat into his kitbag for the final time, citing a few business interests hes developed over the years.

But nothing is set in concrete.

A lot of guys who are head coaches, I never thought after playing with them for so many years that they would get into head coaching, so you never say never.

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