Taylor targets his hero Hogan
Seddon Park, and the West Indies. It’s seemingly a match made in heaven for Ross Taylor, as he looks to join past and present New Zealand batting royalty in the test century stakes.
After going so close to equalling his late mentor Martin Crowe, and current Black Caps captain Kane Williamson, on 17 test tons, with his 93 in the first test in Wellington, Taylor now has a prime opportunity to achieve the feat amid the comforts of home in Hamilton.
Taylor has a test average of 47.46, which bloats to 64.40 against the Windies – featuring three 50s and three hundreds from 19 innings – while he has scored a quarter of his tons at Seddon Park, with four from 18 knocks.
While not aware his record was that much superior in Hamilton, the father-of-three put it down to the fact he could spend time at home and take his mind off the game.
‘‘It is nice just to sleep in your own bed and stay at home on game day, try and do all the normal things – be a dad, make breakfast. But you know what you’re going to get here in Hamilton; short boundaries probably play a part as well.’’
With Taylor seeing it well in the first innings of the summer, it
could be that those short boundaries get ready for another peppering, as he looks to reach that magical milestone of 17.
‘‘There’s not as many opportunities to do it, so you’ve got to make the most of it,’’ he said.
‘‘I know if I go through the right preparation, give myself the best chance and continually do that, that I will be able to get to 17, 18 or whatever.
‘‘Seventeen is the benchmark that Hogan [Crowe] wanted me to get to and beat. But he said, also, carry on and don’t stop there. Hopefully, in time, Kane will probably end up with about 40.’’