Former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor has come out of retirement to represent his mother's heritage nation, Samoa, in the upcoming T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifier. Taylor took to social media to announce the news officially.
Taylor, one of New Zealand's most celebrated batters, last played international cricket in 2022. He had an outstanding career with the Black Caps, earning over 450 international caps and scoring 18,199 runs. He played a crucial role in guiding New Zealand to their first major ICC triumph, winning the World Test Championship Final against India in 2021..
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Ross Taylor in Blue
A year later, the 41-year-old called time on his career. But with his eligibility through his mother’s Samoan heritage, Taylor is now set to return - this time in blue.
"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 a huge honor to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family," Taylor said.
He added that the plan had been in motion for months. Initially expecting to return as a coach, Taylor said the chance to play again was too special to pass up.
"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," Taylor said. "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’s last international game was in 2022. Since then, he’s largely stayed away from the crease, but he’s preparing hard for this return and aiming to lead Samoa from the front.
"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 quickly as I can. That was the other thing that was nice to be able to train for a month or so, a couple of months, just to see how the body reacted. Hopefully, it's not what it used to be at 41, but good enough."
Samoa will face Oman and Papua New Guinea in the qualifiers starting October 8.
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