Ross Taylor desires to play international cricket till ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Ross Taylor: The veteran batsman from New Zealand is a few matches away from becoming the most capped Kiwi cricketer.

Veteran New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor was among the 22 cricketers from Australia and New Zealand who had played an ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground before the COVID-19 pandemic put international cricket to a halt.

While Taylor represented Central Districts in three first-class matches in the last five weeks for below par returns, he was seen playing a full-fledged season of the Caribbean Premier League August-September.

In 11 T20s for Guyana Amazon Warriors this season, Taylor didn’t do too well to score 164 runs at an average and strike rate of 23.42 and 87.23 respectively on low-scoring pitches in Trinidad.

Set to take return to international cricket after more than eight months via a three-match T20I series against West Indies at home, Taylor shared the experience of playing CPL 2020 without spectators whilst speaking at a press interaction in Auckland.

“A little bit dull, almost like a warm-up game. In domestic cricket, we don’t really get a lot of people, so that hasn’t felt any different. [From] playing in front of nobody to having the possibility of playing in front of thousands of people, I think – that’s why you want to play for, you play for your family and friends and the fans,” Taylor said.

Ross Taylor desires to play international cricket till ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Taylor, 36, had become the first-ever cricketer to play 100 Tests, 100 ODIs and 100 T20Is in February this year. Having represented New Zealand in 433 matches across formats, Taylor needs to play five more matches to surpass former captain Daniel Vettori (437) and become their most-capped cricketer.

While the same will happen if Taylor plays each one of the three T20Is and two Test matches against West Indies, the right-hand batsman expressed his desire to continue playing at the highest level until ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

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“2023 was going to be a stretch, I think, at the best of times, when it was (supposed to be held in) February and March. And now, the World Cup has been dragged out to October and November ’23, it’s another six or seven months to hang around.

“You’ve got to have short-term goals and long-term goals and the one-day World Cup is definitely on the radar. I might have to trim things back leading into that – I’m not getting any younger. It doesn’t mean I will make it, but, it’s definitely one of my goals,” Taylor added.