Captaincy Suits Late Developer Taylor (18 Jan 1996)

Thursday 18, January 1996

Cricket: Captaincy suits late developer Taylor

MELBOURNE, Wednesday - After the disappointment of watching from the pavilion as 12th man four years ago, Mark Taylor is facing next month`s World Cup in the key role of Australia`s captain and opening batsman.

In test cricket, Taylor has led Australia to the very summit with a brand of leadership that has proved equally inspirational in the one-day game.

But he fully recognises the vital contribution he must make beyond mere tactics and motivation if Australia are to repeat their 1987 World Cup triumph on the sub-continent during the coming two months.

When Taylor assumed the captaincy from Allan Border in May 1994, he was automatically handed another guaranteed job as opening batsman for Australia`s one-day side. It was a position he had previously struggled to hold down.

Before his appointment, there was no such playing guarantee for the sturdy New South Wales left-hander, a fact reflected in his involvement at the last World Cup.

In 1992, Taylor played only two games when Australia flopped as World Cup hosts, failing to reach the last four.

"My memories of 1992 weren`t great really,`` Taylor said in an interview with Reuters. "I was 12th man for a number of games and, what`s more, the team did not play well.

"I played two games but I did nothing that really sticks in the memory. I didn`t make many runs, I know that much,`` added Taylor, whose path into the one-day side of the day was blocked by test colleagues Geoff Marsh and David Boon.

Despite being established as a test batsman, Taylor had failed to adapt successfully to the rigours of cricket`s shortened game before captaincy provided the security that, in turn, helped him flourish as a limited overs batsman.

"I think I have changed a lot as a one-day batsman. I`m not looking over my shoulder any more which is very important,`` Taylor said.

"Confidence is a big factor. Back in those days, in the one-day games I did play, I was really trying a bit too hard.

"I didn`t really feel comfortable about how I wanted to play the game, whether I was going to be a big hitter early in the innings or someone trying to bat through the innings. In the end, try as hard as I did, I ended up doing neither.`` Taylor made his test debut in 1988-89 before breaking into the limited overs team the following season.

Since then, despite the proliferation of limited overs cricket, Taylor has played almost as many tests as one-day internationals. In 71 test matches prior to this month`s third test against Sri Lanka, Taylor scored 5,471 runs at an average of 46.36, including 14 hundreds and 33 half-centuries.

In 79 one-dayers before the current World Series competition involving West Indies and Sri Lanka, the New South Wales stalwart scored 2,411 runs at an average of 33. "Nowadays, in the middle, I don`t try to bind myself to any one particular role -- I just play the game as I see it,`` said Taylor, referring to his development as a one-day player.

"If they bowl well and the bloke at the other end is batting well, I don`t mind playing the anchor role. "But if I`m hitting the ball well and they`re not bowling as well to me, then I`ll try to be aggressive. I am much mo re comfortable these days.``

Although Taylor may have changed with the captaincy, Australia`s approach to one-day cricket has remained faithful to the principles that helped lift the 1987 World Cup in India and Pakistan.

"We still base our game around good, solid batting, working singles to push the fielding side around, bowling tight and backing that up with good fielding. That`s our general philosophy and that`s not changed since I took over,`` Taylor said.

"I think we are playing very good cricket at the moment. We are a definite chance to win the tournament.``

Source :: Lake House/Lanka Internet Services