Notes from (near) the Oval #7
One of the greats has left the building.
Obviously Ross Taylor was going to end his test career by taking his third wicket in 112 tests. Of course he was destined to end with a batting average of 45 and a bowling average of 16 - true allrounder stuff.
The best thing about the last ball of the second test, won by New Zealand by an innings and 117 runs, wasn’t the drift created by Taylor’s slightly round-arm delivery, the slow-motion flight path or the non-existent offbreak, but the joy it gave his teammates.
They started descending upon him before Tom Latham pouched the skier.
The wicket was an amusing entree, but the way his mates saw him off the field - that was even better. In giving him the honour of leading the team off, they’ve created the second indelible image involving Taylor and New Zealand test cricket, after his hug with Kane Williamson when hitting the winning runs in the inaugural World Test Championship.
Twice in the past five years I have been commissioned to write pieces for overseas magazines - one digital, one print - about Ross Taylor.