Ross Taylor signs for Middlesex during Royal London Cup
New Zealand batsman will provide quality cover for Eoin Morgan and Paul Stirling during pre-World Cup period
ESPNcricinfo staff
05-Apr-2019
Ross Taylor scored his third double-century in Tests • Getty Images
Middlesex have landed another notable signing, with the confirmation that Ross Taylor will be joining the club for this season's Royal London One-Day Cup.
Taylor, who is gearing up for his fourth World Cup campaign with New Zealand, is currently in a superb run of form, having scored 1,063 runs at an average of almost 97 in his past 14 months of ODI cricket.
These performances have led to him being ranked third in the ICC's One Day International rankings, behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and his form has translated to Test cricket too, with his most recent innings being a match-winning 200 against Bangladesh in Wellington.
Taylor will make his debut for Middlesex on April 25 against Surrey at The Oval, and is available to play in the final five group games of the tournament.
He would also be available to play in the play-off and semi-final on May 10 and 12 respectively, should Middlesex qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.
However, New Zealand's own preparations for the World Cup will prevent Taylor from being available for the final on May 25. Their first match takes place against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on June 1, a week later
"The pre-World Cup schedules of England and Ireland mean that Middlesex will be without Eoin Morgan and Paul Stirling for more than half of the Royal London One-Day Cup," said Angus Fraser, Middlesex's director of cricket.
"Eoin and Paul are outstanding one-day cricketers and we were keen to strengthen our resources on the back of their absence during the second half of the tournament.
"To have the opportunity to fill these gaps with a player of Ross' undoubted class is a real treat for the Club.
"He is an outstanding cricketer and a cracking man, and we look forward to welcoming him to Lord's in a couple of weeks time."
Albeit in a different tournament, Middlesex have also secured the services of the former South Africa batsman AB de Villiers, who will feature in the T20 Blast in July and August, alongside the Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.