Ross Taylor Appointed New Zealand Captain

Almost three months after Daniel Vettori had played his last international as the captain of the New Zealand side, the New Zealand cricket board has announced that Ross Taylor will be the new skipper of the national side. Taylor, whose full name is Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote Taylor, will take over the reins after having been an understudy to Vettori for some time now.

Interestingly, the decision came after months of speculation about the captaincy, with one of, Taylor and wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum being tipped to take over the role. McCullum had earlier been the vice-captain of the side but a string of poor scores had led to his sacking from the role of the deputy to Vettori.

Taylor will now lead the team in all the three formats, Tests, ODIs and the T20Is. He is a middle-order batsman who goes in at three or four in the line-up. Known to be aggressive, Taylor has mastered the slog sweep over the mid-wicket boundary, a shot that he has claimed, came from his interest in hockey in his formative days as a sportsman.

Quite clearly, Taylor’s record is one of the better ones in New Zealand cricket, something that seems to have gone in his favour while making this decision. With an average of 41 in Tests and 36 in ODIs, and with an excellent strike-rate to boot as well, it has been said that Taylor, much like his predecessor, will look to lead by example.

Mark Greatbatch, who is currently the national selection manager, said about Taylor’s appointment: "Both by nature are very good tactically and aggressive characters. Brendon might show it a bit more than Ross, but Ross is very competitive. He's had the recent experience. He beat Australia and Pakistan recently as captain of New Zealand. He's a good listener. His own game has improved as captain. He's got a better record as captain than as a player. Those sorts of things were taken into consideration."

The record that Greatbatch speaks about is this; as captain, Taylor has won six out of the 14 games while McCullum won two out of nine. Similarly, Taylor’s average was 46 when he led the side, while McCullum’s average was 26.

In a first, earlier, the two men in question, McCullum and Taylor, were interviewed for the role of the captaincy as well.