In a move that took cricket fans by surprise, former New Zealand captain and one of their most established batters, Ross Taylor, has come out of his retirement from international cricket at the age of 41 to represent another national team, Samoa.
Taylor has been shortlisted to play for Samoa in the upcoming T20 qualifiers in Oman, in a bid to help them qualify for the T20 World Cup, which is set to take place in India and Sri Lanka next year. Taylor was named in the 15-man squad to be led by Caleb Jasmat, announced on Friday.
Taylor on coming out of retirement
Taylor, who holds a Samoan passport through his mother’s heritage, became eligible to play for Samoa after seeing out the three-year cooling-off period after his last match for New Zealand in April 2022.
The batter took to Instagram to celebrate his return to the field. The 41-year-old cricketer expressed delight at being able to represent the country of his mother’s birth and was glad that he was able to give something back to the cricketing community.
“It’s official – I’m proud to announce that I’ll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket. This is more than just a return to the game I love — it’s the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family. I’m excited for the opportunity to give back to the game, join the squad, and share my experience on and off the field. Time to get back out there – #685 to the world! CHEEEHOOO!,” he posted on Instagram.
Taylor also expressed some anxiety regarding his form, saying that he has only played in some domestic tournaments since his retirement, and a return to competitive international cricket could put a strain on his body.
“I obviously have not played competitive international cricket for the three or four years so a return to the field will surely come as a shock to the system. But, yeah, need to get up to speed as quickly as I can. It was nice to be able to train for a month or so, a couple of months, just to see how the body reacted, and hopefully, it’s good enough.”
A glimpse at Taylor’s international career
New Zealand’s former skipper played 12 Tests, 236 ODIs and 102 T20Is for his country as a batter, scoring more than 18,000 runs across all formats of the game.
Known for his explosive batting style, Taylor took pride in his ability to quickly put runs on the scoreboard. The batter scored 1909 runs in the T20 format, boasting an impressive strike rate of 123.
Taylor’s batting prowess becomes more evident when one takes into consideration the fact that he remains New Zealand’s fifth-most prolific run-scorer in T20Is despite last playing a game in the format in November 2020.