When New Zealand try to end their 35-year drought in Australia over the next week it will be Ross Taylor not Kane Williamson who will be the key to their ODI batting.
NZ’s highest-profile cricketer, Williamson inevitably is the focus of Australian media coverage in the lead up to Trans-Tasman clashes, like the three-match ODI series starting in Sydney on Friday.
Operating in his shadow Taylor has quietly become, by one measure, the second-most prolific ODI batsman on the planet after Indian megastar Virat Kohli.
Over the past three years, only Kohli (76.1) has a higher ODI average than Taylor’s mark of 69.3. To emphasise just how elite that average is, consider that of the top 20 runscorers in the world in that period, only three of them average better than 57. That trio is Kohli, Taylor and Indian opener Rohit Sharma (65.3).
Kohli and Sharma, it must be said, are greater ODI match-winners than Taylor. Over that time they have averaged a century every 4.2 and 3.7 innings, respectively. Taylor, by comparison, has made only four ODI tons over the past three years at a rate of one every 11.5 innings.
What that also underlines, though, is just how consistently Taylor makes solid contributions to the well-balanced New Zealand batting line-up.
Over the past three years, Taylor has passed 40 in nearly two-thirds of his ODI innings. Very rarely does he fail.
In this way he is the embodiment of this current New Zealand ODI team – unspectacular but very consistent. The Kiwis don’t often demolish opponents.
They no longer play with the attack-at-all-costs verve that made them the world’s most watchable ODI team under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum.
McCullum’s approach was to shoot for the stars, to never be content with middling totals. It was this strategy that inspired England to implement their own brutal batting tactics.
Now, however, the Kiwis more often that not prefer to play the percentages. They have reduced the risk in their batting approach in favour of reliability. That is underlined by the fact that, of their top five batsmen, only one is a noted dasher.
While opener Martin Guptill seeks to take on the bowlers, the remaining members of that group are relatively sedate by modern ODI standards.
Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham all have career ODI scoring rates of between 4.8 and 5.0 runs per over.
But this cautious approach has worked for New Zealand due to a number of factors – the consistency of their batting line-up, the elite quality of their fielding, and the brilliance and dependability of their bowling.
In their last 10 ODI series, the only sides that have beat them have been the world’s top two ranked teams – England and India.
The world’s fourth-ranked ODI batsman, Taylor has been at the heart of that sustained success. When the Kiwis lose early wickets his Test match technique and temperament come into play.
He is the man for a crisis. Taylor also is able to access another gear when necessary.
That was evident in the Kiwis’ most recent ODI series at home against India. In the first match India laid down a marker by batting first and piling up 4-347.
Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)
When Taylor came to the crease he faced a stiff task – New Zealand needed another 239 runs to win at nearly eight an over. The veteran gave himself a few sighters, moving to 13 from 18 balls, and then cut loose. First he went after the Indian spinners, driving and slog-sweeping with ferocity.
Then he took on the visiting quicks with his favoured cross-bat strokes, cutting and pulling a clutch of boundaries.
Taylor’s final 70 runs came from just 45 balls as he turned a monumental chase into a canter. The Kiwis won with 12 balls to spare and he finished on 108* from just 83 balls.
That innings served as a reminder of the belligerence for which Taylor was once famous. In line with his team’s batting strategy, Taylor has begun to favour reliability over dynamism. But he hasn’t lost that renowned power – it is still there, waiting patiently to be released.
Taylor is more rounded than ever in this format. He has become a batsman for all occasions and the man Australia should be most worried about in this ODI series.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Kiwi’s are a funny bunch aren’t they! I’ve had plenty of Kiwi friends over the years, but certainly when you get onto sporting things and the like, it brings out some strangeness. Certainly in the main, the reasons for the scheduling of Australia v NZ matches either early or late season is because of the shared season, and the fact both teams want to be home through the main part of the season. But logic has never been a big thing with Kiwi’s when they can search for another reason to have a chip on their shoulder against Australia. And totally with you on the Rugby thing. I’m right there. Sorry, but sledging me about Rugby means nothing. The Wallabies could lose every match they played and it wouldn’t bother me one bit!
Micko
Roar Rookie
You know what the kiwis are like Chris, they have that giant chip, and they're desperate for our attention. They covet the MCG Test as it's a major Australian sporting cultural landmark, and they are jealous and envious of it, despite the fact they can play their own BD Test each year in NZ! An article I saw on kiwi news website "Stuff" listed every other nation and amount of MCG Boxing Day Tests they had had since NZ last got a gig in 1987. :laughing: Other articles were moaning about how us big bad Aussies and our apparently biased, crooked umpires cost them a win in that 1987 Test. They long for revenge and probably "justice" for that and are just desperate to beat us in a Boxing Day Test to stick it up us, in one of our major cultural events in a sport we love. Don't forget that it bugs them that around 80% or more of us don't give a stuff about rugby union, and therefore doesn't really bother most of us that their all blacks dominate our wallabies. Beating us in our own backyard at cricket seems to be the sweetest victory of all for the kiwis!
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Yeah, I don't necessarily get that. There was all this talk about NZ "finally" getting another boxing day test this summer, but surely that can't be good for NZ cricket to have their national side playing away overseas through the middle of their summer, same for South Africa. I'm fine for Australia, South Africa and NZ to basically always be early summer or late summer test series and have the middle of the summer be taken up by England, Pakistan, India, West Indies and others who's own home summer isn't going to be badly interrupted by doing that. And when we play away in those places the same, have a test series in October to early November, or starting in early February. No way should CA ever agree to play an away series in SA or NZ that includes the Christmas / NY period, and no reason for SA or NZ to do that either.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Also Chris, disappearing and playing ODI series in SA could be part of a mutual backscratching too, as SA are apparently locked in to play the marquee Boxing Day & New Year's Tests in a couple of years...something they've been reluctant to do recently.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
I predict CA beating the Australian public 3:0
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Reminiscent of the time Colin 'Bomber' Harris fought himself.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Thanks. I did get that it can be converted with a bit of arithmetic, but it would be better all round if we could just use the accepted common standard.
jose
Roar Rookie
Get a Kayo Free trial :)
Nick
Roar Guru
A survey of the clubs showed overwhelming support for the current length of the season. But like you, I think it's too long as well. Should go back to 22 weeks.
Nick
Roar Guru
The season ends on the first sunday of October, and then you minus 30 weeks for the start of the season.
Tanmoy Kar
Roar Rookie
It would be an interesting Series, considering that Kiwis are coming after beating India by 3-0 and Australians have lost 0-3 with the South Africans.
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
Gees it was annoying when Gavin Larsen and Chris Harris were trundling in the teal, as they made their way to 1-30 off 10 overs. Our batsmen were like anvils in the quicksand against those two.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
ScoMo said "by sticking together"
Paul
Roar Guru
Certainly been the case for the past 25 or more years, Jeff. There was one season when they started in early February and had to stop games after 20 minutes of each half for a drinks break - because it was over 37 degrees! IMO, the season is way too long, but the NRL doesn't seem inclined to do anything about it.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Now, why on Earth does NRL start so early? Has this always been the case?
Republican
Guest
.......so it's not the Footy season then. Either way, its all tad blurry don't you reckon?
Micko
Roar Rookie
I didn’t know about T20’s/ODI’s in Perth last November was it? Barely mentioned in the media and on Foxtel. Apparently Optus Stadium was a ghost town. But November is the wrong time for limited overs internationals anyway. CA are trying to make it a “thing” now. We’ve built up a nice tradition of the Test season being November to the New Year’s Test then ODI’s in January/ February. Now they’re shoving stuff in all over the place! :thumbdown:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Those teal kiwi teams did pretty well too from memory. Probably helped them in Australia too! :thumbup:
Targa
Roar Rookie
I'm looking forward to seeing NZ play in teal and try to explain the uniform to my kids. I might have to find some YouTube clips from the late 90s etc to show them that old ODI uniform.
Paul
Roar Guru
maybe they're trying to annoy the Sydney Roosters, who have to play on the road for the first 2 weeks. :stoked: