Ross Taylor wants to contribute one last time

New Zealand veteran batsman Ross Taylor says he wants to make a contribution and enjoy the occasion when he plays his final match for the Black Caps today.

Taylor will play his 450th and farewell match for New Zealand in Hamilton when they host the Netherlands in the last of their three-match one-day international series.

Taylor decided in December to retire from international cricket but will continue to play for his provincial side Central Districts until the end of the season before making a call on his future in domestic cricket.

“Probably the hardest part was coming to the decision,” Taylor said.

“Once the decision was made, it was nice to let it all go. I’ll miss a lot of it, obviously, I’ll miss my team mates.”

The 38-year-old is one of only four New Zealanders to play 100 tests and also holds the nation’s record in ODI runs (8,593) and centuries (21).

He was also the world’s first to play in 100 internationals in all formats.

“All you can try and do is make a contribution, enjoy everything for the last time … but not try and dwell on it too much, just try to enjoy the occasion and hopefully make a contribution,” Taylor added.

He says he hopes to spend a bit of time reflecting on his 16-year career at some stage today.

“The game of cricket has been good to me and I’ve been fortunate enough to go to places that I definitely wouldn’t have travelled to had it not been for cricket.

“I hope in my last game of cricket to take the time out in the field whether its batting or fielding to soak it up and enjoy that one last time.”

Taylor says scoring the winning runs in last year’s World Test Championship final was among the proudest moments of his career.

“To have gone to two World Cup finals, to have been completely outplayed in 2015 but have lost in the manner that we did in 2019, it was a pretty satisfying moment to have hit the winning runs and to finally bring a World Cup home to New Zealand is something I’ll never forget.”

After years of being a cricket player, Taylor is gearing up for the role of a cricket dad.

“My son’s just starting to get into cricket now too,” he said. “I need to save my shoulder because I think I’m going to have to throw to him for the next few years and get a bit of payback on what my dad had to do to me.”

Taylor has played 112 Tests with an average of 44.66, 235 ODI’s with an average of 47.73 and 102 T20 Internationals with an average of 26.15.

Taylor who made his international debut in 2006, still plans to play for Central Districts.

-Reuters/RNZ