Taylor at peace with Hesson

AXED BLACK Caps skipper Ross Taylor broke his silence in Auckland yesterday, and promptly played a straight bat to media questions surrounding his return to the New Zealand set-up.

Taylor, who was dumped as New Zealand captain following their tour to Sri Lanka last November, had not spoken publicly since accusing Black Caps management of lying about the process of relieving him as skipper.

Those accusations were backed up in a leaked letter by New Zealand bowling coach Shane Bond.

On Friday Taylor was named in the Black Caps Twenty20 and oneday teams to face England.

He and national coach Mike Hesson met after the Black Caps returned from their tour to South Africa – which Taylor made himself unavailable for – but he remained tight- lipped on whether he received an apology.

‘‘We talked in the meeting and said what we had to say. It went well,’’ he said at Eden Park’s Outer Oval, where Taylor’s Central Districts wrapped up their Plunket Shield clash against Auckland.

He described his relationship with Hesson as a ‘‘work in progress’’, adding that he had yet to speak to new skipper Brendon McCullum.

‘‘I’m looking forward to getting back into the team and playing international cricket. It was a nice break away from the game.’’

In his absence in South Africa, the Black Caps were humiliated in the tests and lost the Twenty20 series but did claim a historic oneday series victory win.

Taylor admitted it was a ‘‘strange feeling’’ seeing the team in action without him, and he doubted his presence would have made any difference.

‘‘ It was obviously good when they won, and you feel for them when they lose,’’ he said.

‘‘ It was a strange feeling, but coming back into the set- up, playing in front of a home crowd and [with] the support I’ve got over the last six or seven weeks, hopefully I can repay all those people who have shown faith in me.’’