Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor has decided to return to international cricket. He will turn up for Samoa in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier. The tournament is a qualifier pathway for Samoa and eight other teams to make it to next year’s T20 World Cup.
“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,” Taylor posted on his Instagram page.
Taylor last played for New Zealand in April 2022 in an ODI game against the Netherlands. He featured in a total of 450 matches for the Blackcaps and scored over 18000 runs at an average of 42.72. Taylor made 40 centuries for the team. Only Kane Williamson has made more runs and centuries for New Zealand than Taylor. He was a part of the squad that won the World Test Championship final in 2021 against India.
Here’s Ross Taylor’s T20I stats:
| Matches | 102 |
| Innings | 94 |
| Not Out | 21 |
| Runs | 1909 |
| Highest Score | 63 |
| Average | 26.15 |
| Balls Faced | 1560 |
| Strike Rate | 122.37 |
| 100s | 0 |
| 50s | 7 |
| 4s | 121 |
| 6s | 71 |
| Catches | 46 |
How Is Ross Taylor Eligible To Play For Samoa?
According to ICC’s Stand-Down rule, a player who has represented one national team, whether a full member or associate, must not play official international matches for any country for at least three years before switching and representing another country. Taylor’s mother was of Samoan heritage, and hence, Taylor became eligible to play for Samoa in April this year.
“Yeah, I’m excited. It’s been a few months in the pipeline, but obviously the team just got announced today, so I had to make it exciting to represent the country of my mother’s birth,” Taylor said. “I always thought it would be more in coaching and other avenues. I never thought I’d play, but as the opportunity arose, yeah, looking forward to getting out there and hopefully representing and doing my best for Samoa.”
He played for a few legends leagues after announcing retirement from international cricket. He acknowledged the fact that since his retirement, he has not played a lot of games and will have to speed up quickly.
“Yeah, I obviously haven’t played a lot of cricket like we used to, so it’d be a bit of a shock to the system. But I’ve played in some tournaments, so it’s not as if I’ve gone three or four years without having played. But, yeah, I need to get up to speed as quick as I can. But that was the other thing that was nice to be able to do, train for a month or so, a couple of months, just to see how the body reacted and hopefully, not what it used to be at 41, but hopefully it’s good enough.”
Taylor is not the only player from New Zealand who has been named in the squad by Samoa. Sean Solia, the 32-year-old all-rounder from Auckland, is also a part of the squad. In 74 T20 matches, Solia has made 1151 runs and taken 28 wickets.
Jeet Raval, the former New Zealand Test opener, has been named as assistant coach. Tarun Nethula is the head coach of the team and played five ODI matches for New Zealand. Nethula was the one who persuaded Taylor to join the squad for the qualifying tournament.
Samoa will start their campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier on October 8 against Oman. The team is placed in Group C along with Papua New Guinea and Oman.
Samoa’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier
Caleb Jasmat (c), Ross Taylor, Darius Visser, Sean Solia, Daniel Burgess, Douglas Finau, Sam French, Kurtis Hynam-Nyberg, Ben Mailata, Noah Mead, Solomon Nash, Samson Sola, Fereti Sululoto, Saumani Tiai, Ili Tugaga
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