Ross Taylor

For over 15 years, Ross Taylor, one of New Zealand's all-time great batters, was a fulcrum of the side across formats. Scoring heavily off his trademark pulls and slog-sweeps, he had consistent Test success, especially at home, and made appearances in consecutive ODI World Cup finals. He was the first player to play 100 matches in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.

In the mid-2000s, Taylor was just what New Zealand needed in the wake of a mass of departures from their batting line-up: an aggressive top-order batter capable of taking on world-class attacks. In his third ODI, in 2006, Taylor hammered a superb unbeaten 128 against Sri Lanka in Napier, and he followed it up with 84 at better than a run a ball in his first ODI outside New Zealand, in Hobart against Australia early the following year.

His Test debut came on the tour of South Africa later in 2008, but he struggled against the bounce in Johannesburg and Centurion. Back at home he was dropped against Bangladesh but returned in style against England with four fifties in three Tests, one of them his first century, 120. Two months later, in the return series, he produced 154 not out at Old Trafford, though New Zealand crumbled in the second innings and lost. Another 150-plus score followed ten months later, against India in Napier.

Taylor was named captain for the ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka in 2010 after Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum opted out. During Taylor's 13-Test captaincy stint, he averaged a shade under 50 and New Zealand notched up rare wins in Australia and Sri Lanka, but his leadership ended in controversy when it emerged that he and Mike Hesson, the coach, didn't have a comfortable relationship. McCullum was named captain in his place.

After deciding not to tour South Africa, Taylor returned for New Zealand's home series against England and quickly emphasised his importance to the middle order by producing 495 runs in five innings against West Indies.

In one-day cricket Taylor was one half of what McCullum often called "the best three-four punch in world cricket", alongside Kane Williamson. Leading up to the 2015 World Cup, Taylor scored three ODI hundreds in three innings against India and Pakistan. He was consistent rather than prolific at the World Cup itself, but afterwards scored two hundreds, a fifty and two forties against England, followed by a hundred in Zimbabwe.

Back in Test cricket, a career-best 290 came against Australia at the WACA in late 2015, and Taylor filled his boots on the mid-2016 tour of Zimbabwe, with scores of 173, 124 and 67, all unbeaten, in the two Tests. In 2019 added a third double-century to his tally, 200 against Bangladesh.

He remained key to the one-day side as they began the next four-year cycle under Williamson. One of his finest innings came against England in 2018, when he scored an unbeaten 181 in a big chase, batting on one leg due to injury. At the 2019 World Cup he was key to New Zealand's impressive semi-final victory over India with a fine fifty in tricky conditions. Two years later, he hit the winning runs in the inaugural World Test Championship final, also against India, to give New Zealand their maiden world title.

In T20s, Taylor had three strong seasons in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore, scoring at about 150 runs per 100 balls in an era when the team was popularly derided as a Test side playing the shortest format. His next stint in the competition, with Delhi Daredevils, was rather less successful. Taylor also featured in the CPL for five seasons, during which time he played for four teams.