Taylor not at ease in New Zealand set-up

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has indicated he is not completely at ease within the team's set-up after returning to the squad for the home series against England, following his sacking as captain ahead of the tour to South Africa last year, and his fall-out with coach Mike Hesson.

"I wouldn't say I'm as comfortable as I would like to be, but I guess that will (improve) over time," Taylor told LiveSport, a New Zealand radio show, a day after drawing the Test series against England in a thrilling finish in Auckland. "There are a lot of things that have happened. Maybe over the next couple of weeks or months things might get told, but now is probably not a great time to talk about it."

Taylor's comments were received with disappointment by New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White. "Surprised really. Disappointed. A little bit confused why he would come out with those comments a day after an exceptional Test match where our guys played so well, when everything should be about the team," White said. "It should all be about the team performance now but unfortunately he's come out with these comments and I need to understand his motivation for that and I'll be talking to him about that in the next few days."

Taylor was removed from the New Zealand captaincy in all formats in December 2012 and replaced by Brendon McCullum, who had the backing of Hesson. Taylor then decided to take time off from the game and miss the tour of South Africa because of the manner in which he was ousted, which led New Zealand Cricket to issue an apology for the breakdown in communication within the management.

After declaring himself available for the home series against England, Taylor was picked in all formats but was not in good form, making 23 runs in three Twenty20s and 94 runs in five Test innings. He had a better ODI series, scoring 150 in three matches. He said he was looking forward to the return leg in England during the winter, and that he was pleased with how the newcomers in the squad had performed.

"As one of the senior batters, it's nice for others to come in and score some runs, something I haven't done very much in a New Zealand team is have to wait a couple of sessions to bat," Taylor said. "Hopefully I can start getting used to that trend. We've always had the talent, it's just marrying that together and playing consistent cricket. We've got a good nucleus of young players who are getting more experience now. Time will tell, there are definitely good signs for the future."