Ross Taylor Comes Out of Retirement to Represent Samoa in T20 World Cup Qualifier
Ross Taylor has decided to come out of retirement to play for Samoa in the ICC T20 World Cup Asia–East Asia Pacific Qualifier. This tournament will be Samoa’s last chance to make it to next year’s Men’s T20 World Cup. The former New Zealand star shared the news on social media.
"It's official - I'm proud to announce that I'll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket. This is more than just a return to the game I love - it's the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family," Taylor said.
Ross Taylor can play for Samoa because his mother is Samoan. Since it has been three years since he last played for New Zealand in April 2022, he is now free to represent another country at the international level.
Ross Taylor, now 41, played 450 matches for New Zealand and scored a total of 18,199 runs in all formats, 7,683 in Tests, 8,607 in ODIs, and 1,909 in T20Is. He was also a key member of the New Zealand team that lifted the first-ever ICC World Test Championship in June 2021.
"Yeah, I'm excited. It's been a few months in the pipeline, but obviously the team just got announced today, so I had to make it exciting to represent the country of my mother's birth. I always thought it would be more in coaching and other avenues. I never thought I'd play, but as the opportunity arose, yeah, looking forward to getting out there and hopefully representing and doing my best for Samoa," Taylor said.
Ross Taylor Set to Represent Samoa After Long New Zealand Career
Taylor admitted that he needs to get back in rhythm quickly, as he hasn’t played much cricket since retiring from New Zealand in 2022.
"Yeah, I obviously haven't played a lot of cricket like we used to, so it'd be a bit of a shock to the system. But I've played in some tournaments, so it's not as if I've gone three or four years without having played. But, yeah, I need to get up to speed as quick as I can. But that was the other thing that was nice to be able to do, train for a month or so, a couple of months, just to see how the body reacted and hopefully, not what it used to be at 41, but hopefully it's good enough."
Samoa will start their tournament on October 8 in Oman. They are set to play two group matches, one against the hosts Oman and the other against Papua New Guinea.
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