The eyes have it: Taylor’s batting is better than ever

ADylan Cleaver

s a surgical procedure it might not have been as complex as the rebuilding of Steve Austin, but the operation to remove a growth from Ross Taylor’s eye has been worth millions to the Black Caps.

Taylor’s renaissance continues apace, even as his 34th birthday looms. His 113 against England at Seddon Park further evidence that Taylor has never played better. In late 2016, the right-hander had an operation to remove a pterygium — a benign growth — from his left eye. It followed the most inconsistent period of his career. Since the start of 2017, however, Taylor’s form has been, well, eye-opening.

In tests he has amassed 408 runs at a silly average of 81.6, more than 30 runs higher than his career average of 48. Add to that, his strike rate has jumped to 63.2 in that period, four points higher than his career rate, suggesting he is playing not only better, but more positively.

Sure, it is a relatively small sample size. Like all of our best test players, he is being handicapped by a bleak couple of years of scheduling, but he’s had plenty of short-format cricket to reinforce the notion he’s never been better. Since the operation, he has scored 1250 ODI runs. He’s averaged 59.5 and notched seven 50s and three centuries.

Again, in the key numbers he is tracking ahead of career rates. His average in this period is 14 runs higher than his career, and his strike rate of 83.55 is marginally better than his career rate of 82.31.

Batting in the middle order in T20Is is one of cricket’s most thankless, soul-sapping tasks and averages come a distant second in statistical relevance to strike rate, but it is worth noting that in Taylor’s clear-eyed revival, he averages 39.75 compared to a career average in the format of 25.26. That number is bolstered by a number of unbeaten, late-innings cameos, so of more relevance is the fact he’s lifted his strike rate to 129.26 (career strike rate 121.04).

A harsh critic might point out that even this strike rate is a bit watery by modern standards but, undeniably, it shows he is trending in the right direction.

Taylor’s star has fallen in the shortest format since 2011, when his trademark slap-slog over midwicket attracted a US$1 million bid from Royal Challengers Bangalore. He endured a 19-month exile from the national T20 side, a snub that only highlighted the paucity of depth in middle-order stocks.

Taylor might sit below the T20 elite, but he has shown enough to suggest he could curate a decent retirement nest egg when his international days end. That, he indicated, could come as soon as mid-2019, at the conclusion of the Cricket World Cup in England.

By then he will be 35, not that old by today’s standards. There is a crispness to his batting these days that fans feared they might not see again.

He has 35 international centuries — easily the most by a Kiwi, Nathan Astle and Kane Williamson have 27 — and on that score alone is joining the ranks of the greats.

It’s not outrageous to suggest the winter of his career could last another four or five years. He’s just got his eye in again.