How Will Ross Taylor Bounce Back In England?
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The Niche Cache loves Ross Taylor - he is Aotearoa's leading run-scorer in Tests and ODIs after all. When it's time to lace up in defence of Taylor, we've led the charge. Now, as the frost creeps over Aotearoa and the summer arrives in England there is a new chapter emerging in Taylor's career to explore. Keeping things a full steak and cheese is mandatory business here, so while wrinkles of disrespect shown towards Taylor this summer were a bit yucky, this definitely wasn't the best summer for Taylor as far as piles of runs go.
Here's how Taylor's summer finished...
Super Smash: 0, 65, 0.
Ford Trophy: 0, 9, 68*, 2.
Plunket Shield: 4, 50.
ODI vs Bangladesh: 7.
That's 10 innings with three 50+ scores and seven scores below 10.
This perfectly encapsulates the intrigue around Taylor's winter England as there was a slight underwhelming vibe and yet Taylor still put up a few scores. In four Tests this summer, Taylor scored 141 runs @ 35.25avg with a half-century. Taylor had that knock of 7 in his lone ODI this summer and in two T20I games Taylor scored 0 runs off 4 deliveries.
Kinda makes sense right? Taylor was lacking some form in international cricket this summer and this niggly thread filtered through to domestic cricket with those sub-10 scores, yet Taylor's class still enabled him to sneak in some scores. The nek level of this in judging an 'out of form' cricketer would be if they sucked in the lower level; the batting soul of Taylor still came through with some domestic runs.
Not quite the perfect preparation for what may be the most important period of Aotearoa Test cricket of my lifetime though. This summer's dip in runs for Taylor came after Taylor settled into a Cameron Smith (NRL)/Tom Brady (NFL)/LeBron James (NBA) type of elder-statesman groove where their excellence increases with every additional year of competition. We know this as the mythical tale of Taylor being able to see good after an eye operation.
Here are Tayor's Test and ODI averages by year since 2014...
2014: 35.53 (Test) | 66.20 (ODI).
2015: 42.40 | 58.11.
2016: 60.60 | 33.33.
2017: 81.60 | 60.50.
2018: 23.08 | 91.28.
2019: 55.18 | 55.47.
2020: 33.85 | 99.
A wee dip in Test runs is off-set by a rather bonkers ODI record there. In England though, Taylor averages a healthy 40.23 with a century and three halfies in his 14inns. Chuck in Taylor's work in County Championship cricket where he has played for Sussex, Durham and Middlesex for a breakdown of Taylor's First-Class record in England over the years...
2008: 12inns, 429 runs @ 39avg, 2 x 100.
2013: 5inns, 177 runs @ 35.40avg, 2 x 50.
2015: 6inns, 180 runs @ 30avg, 1 x 50.
2016: 11inns, 478 runs @ 47.80avg, 1 x 100, 4 x 50.
2018: 15inns, 506 runs @ 33.73avg, 1 x 100, 4 x 50.
In each of his Test tours to England, Taylor registered a 50+ score. Of the main Blackcaps Test batsmen, only BJ Watling has a better record in England than Taylor (56.80avg) and that sets up another layer of funk in Watling's farewell as he's the Blackcaps best batsman in England. Kane Williamson averages 30.87 and Tom Latham averages 36.50, while Henry Nicholls has not played a Test in England.
What happens in England over the coming weeks will have an immense impact on kiwi cricket and this vibe feels as though it applies to Taylor as well. Taylor is not only the most experienced Blackcap, he's the bloke who has been the busiest in getting around the world while some of the fresh Blackcaps haven't even played a Test outside of Aotearoa. For the team to be successful in England, Taylor doesn't necessarily have to jack up big runs but his experience has to be on display in some shape or form with the bat.
For Taylor, all signs point to him needing runs to fight off the selectors who have at the very least put out a vibe of shuffling Taylor along as soon as runs dry up. Averaging 50+ in Test and ODIs under the captaincy of Kane Williamson reflects how important Taylor is to this team and Williamson always offers an ear for Taylor's wisdom on the field. I'm not sure if these two angles are aligned though and in covering these matters, there has been a constant thread of niggle from the selectors to Taylor.
Taylor showered us in runs after he got his eyes fixed and provided a taste of what could be extremely productive twilight years for Taylor. The only negative for Taylor physically is that the short-ball tactics have resulted in Taylor doing a bit more running from slip to deep-slip, otherwise Taylor's been chilling in the slips for over a decade and that smells like cricket longevity. All that Taylor needs to do now is help the Blackcaps win Tests in England and hopefully we can bask in a few more years of Taylor's Gunn & Moore bat leading the way.
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