Ross Taylor retires
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One of my all time favourite Black Caps. Stepping down after the WTC would have been pretty sweet, but retiring at home in front of family and friends make sense. One of NZs best ever, what a legend, after getting it done against the worlds best (that 290 in Aus was insane), it'd be awesome for him to bow out with a ton against the Bangles.
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@no-quarter One of his greatest contributions (along with several others in this generation) is that when we pick a Best Ever Black Caps XI, we don't have to include a few guys who were pretty ordinary in the international scheme of things (or so old no-one has seen them play).
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@chris-b Excuse me, I saw Glen Turner and Bruce Taylor both playing live so that in itself does not see them fall into the "or so old no-one has seen them play" category thus they are declared as eligible for selection! Similarly Gren and Jack Alabaster and to a lesser extent Geoff Howarth both also seen play live by myself, the former pair obviously well past his best by then.
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I sincerely hope this is on his terms as he had expressed a desire to make the next CWC - but between COVID, MIQ, the WTC win and the kids growing up it is entirely possible the desire and the eye is waning.
Incredible batsman, underrated captain (he and Coney are the only skippers to win in Australia), dreadful runner between wickets. He deserves a knighthood for how he handled the 2012 captaincy issue (regardless of what side of the fence you were on)
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@higgins said in NZ cricket 2021:
@chris-b Excuse me, I saw Glen Turner and Bruce Taylor both playing live so that in itself does not see them fall into the "or so old no-one has seen them play" category thus they are declared as eligible for selection! Similarly Gren and Jack Alabaster and to a lesser extent Geoff Howarth both also seen play live by myself, the former pair obviously well past his best by then.
I saw Glen playing live as well. Can't remember seeing Bruce Taylor, but I may have.
I was thinking of Stewie Dempster, Jack Cowie and Martin Donnelly!
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@chris-b said in NZ cricket 2021:
@no-quarter One of his greatest contributions (along with several others in this generation) is that when we pick a Best Ever Black Caps XI, we don't have to include a few guys who were pretty ordinary in the international scheme of things (or so old no-one has seen them play).
Was a big shift from his early test career too.
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@godder said in NZ cricket 2021:
@chris-b said in NZ cricket 2021:
@no-quarter One of his greatest contributions (along with several others in this generation) is that when we pick a Best Ever Black Caps XI, we don't have to include a few guys who were pretty ordinary in the international scheme of things (or so old no-one has seen them play).
Was a big shift from his early test career too.
Weird time to be blooded in his first 4 year cycle he had Braces, Moles, Vettori, Greatbatch and Wright as coach, we didn't know if McCullum was a test opener, top order or lower order player and no openers.
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Watching him when he first hit the scene you would think T20 would be his strongest format as a slogger that just relied on talent and a good eye, but he worked insanely hard to curb his natural aggression and became an absolute run machine in the longer formats.
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@no-quarter said in NZ cricket 2021:
Watching him when he first hit the scene you would think T20 would be his strongest format as a slogger that just relied on talent and a good eye, but he worked insanely hard to curb his natural aggression and became an absolute run machine in the longer formats.
It's interesting that, because a similar player coming through the grades currently would probably be even more firmly pegged as a limited overs player. It may be that the modern equivalent has no desire to play test cricket, but the likes of a Finn Allen could well be excellent at third drop if the time was invested in him.
Because we currently have so many good test players, the same energy might not be invested in that sort of player. Are we missing out? Probably not, because we have enough talent already in the test set-up that we aren't really looking for the next cab off the rank. It does seem less likely that we'll find a player like McCullum in the near future though - not until we have a bit more of a dearth of test talent.
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@no-quarter said in Ross Taylor retires:
Watching him when he first hit the scene you would think T20 would be his strongest format as a slogger that just relied on talent and a good eye, but he worked insanely hard to curb his natural aggression and became an absolute run machine in the longer formats.
He said in his press conference that one of his greatest achievements was working to become a test player. Could have been a basher with an average of 30, but worked hard at test batting.
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@delicatessen said in Ross Taylor retires:
@no-quarter said in NZ cricket 2021:
Watching him when he first hit the scene you would think T20 would be his strongest format as a slogger that just relied on talent and a good eye, but he worked insanely hard to curb his natural aggression and became an absolute run machine in the longer formats.
It's interesting that, because a similar player coming through the grades currently would probably be even more firmly pegged as a limited overs player. It may be that the modern equivalent has no desire to play test cricket, but the likes of a Finn Allen could well be excellent at third drop if the time was invested in him.
Because we currently have so many good test players, the same energy might not be invested in that sort of player. Are we missing out? Probably not, because we have enough talent already in the test set-up that we aren't really looking for the next cab off the rank. It does seem less likely that we'll find a player like McCullum in the near future though - not until we have a bit more of a dearth of test talent.
Wtf. This was about McCullum. I'm going back to my drinks.
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I hope he goes out caught at deep midwicket after an inauspicious swipe across the line
Having scored 150
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@mariner4life It's only Bangladesh they are playing so had better make that run out for about 250.
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@higgins said in Ross Taylor retires:
@mariner4life It's only Bangladesh they are playing so had better make that run out for about 250.
Why not go for the triple and better his 290 in Perth!
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@mariner4life said in Ross Taylor retires:
I hope he goes out caught at deep midwicket after an inauspicious swipe across the line
Having scored 150
Nah ... two fitty
