Taylor seeks clarity on his New Zealand T20 future

Ross Taylor hopes for more clarity on his future in New Zealand's T20 set-up at the end of the season after he was again left out of the squad, for the one-off T20 international against South Africa at Eden Park on Friday.

Taylor, who has scored 1256 runs in 73 T20Is, was dropped for the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh in January, which New Zealand won 3-0, and in his absence there was success for Colin Munro (101), Tom Bruce (59) and Corey Anderson (94) which meant the selectors were not inclined to change.

Taylor also had a somewhat underwhelming World T20 in India last year, making 91 runs in five innings, and his highest score in his last 14 innings is 36 not out.

In an interview with Radio Sport, Taylor said he had not been given any specific indication from coach Mike Hesson or selector Gavin Larsen of what he needed to do to reclaim his spot.

"He [Hesson] just said I'm not in the team…all he said was that this was the best team for Bangladesh and said I wasn't selected for South Africa.

"I asked the question when I got dropped for Bangladesh. You have to respect the decision. You have a review at the end of the season and we'll see what Hess has in store for me and my future in the team I guess."

Taylor added that he hoped to play international cricket until at least the 2019 World Cup but with the next World T20 currently scheduled for 2020 he may find the selectors remain keen to cast their net wider in that format.

Hesson, speaking to reporters in Auckland on Tuesday as the squad gathered ahead of the start of the South Africa series, insisted there had been open communication with Taylor and that his omission stemmed from the form of the incumbents.

"That's the nutshell. There's not a role there at the moment because guys there have done so well," Hesson said. "It's very difficult for Ross because there aren't going to be many opportunities. We have those issues all the time. We know Ross is a quality player, we know he's keen to play T20 cricket but at the moment we have a side playing pretty well.

"Following the Bangladesh selection Gavin Larsen and I talked to him at length. There's certainly been some communication. We communicate every day. Like every player they want to know how to get back in. That's quite natural."

Taylor was denied the chance to make a point to the selectors when the T20 warm-up match between a New Zealand XI and the South Africans was washed out without a ball bowled in Auckland.

However, since his return from surgery in December, to remove a pterygium in his left eye, Taylor's form has been impressive across all three formats and earlier this month he scored a series-clinching 107 as New Zealand retained the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.

"It's the best I've seen ball for a long time," he said. "I think I underestimated how bad my eye was beforehand and how much it has improved over a small period."

Taylor will be in the IPL auction later this month - he has not played the tournament in the last two seasons - and will be rejoining Sussex for the NatWest T20 Blast following a productive 2016 season in which he scored 394 runs, at an average of 56.28 and strike-rate of 133.10.