WELLINGTON - Veteran New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor ruled out retirement Friday following the Black Caps' victory over India in the inaugural World Test Championship, saying he could still contribute to the team.
The 37-year-old hit the winning runs in New Zealand's triumph, easing the pain of defeats in the past two one-day World Cup deciders.
Taylor, who has played a key part in developing the Black Caps from also-rans into a genuine cricketing force, acknowledged his advancing years but said he had no immediate plans to quit.
"I'm just looking forward to going home and seeing the family," he told Newstalk ZB.
"Obviously I'm coming towards the end of my career but you don't want to make decisions based on emotion and things like that.
"Hopefully I've still got a few games left in me for New Zealand."
Taylor has previously not ruled out staying on until the 2023 one-day World Cup in the hope of completing unfinished business from 2015 and 2019.
He is New Zealand's leading run-scorer in Tests and one-dayers, demonstrating his worth with vital contributions in the win over India and the Test series victory over England that preceded it.
Taylor played down suggestions from legendary New Zealand allrounder Richard Hadlee that the current Black Caps' side was the best in history.
"I wouldn't get too carried away. We've had some fantastic teams (like) the team of the 1980s," he said.
"But this current group are proud of what they've achieved and hopefully can achieve some special things in the future as well."
CARDIFF - Liam Livingstone saw England to a series-clinching win over Sri Lanka as the hosts overcame a batting slump in a rain-affected second Twenty20 international at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday.
England appeared to have the game sown up after holding Sri Lanka to 111 at Glamorgan's headquarters.
But they collapsed to 36-4 in the face of some spirited Sri Lanka bowling chasing 112 - a target reduced to 103 from 18 overs following a rain delay.
But Sam Billings (24) and Livingstone (29 not out) steadied the innings.
Billings fell shortly before the finish but Sam Curran (16 not out) helped England to a five-wicket win with 11 balls to spare as the world's top-ranked T20 side went 2-0 up in this three-match series.
"Any test that we come up against at this stage, with the (T20) World Cup in mind, is a good challenge - anything out of the ordinary is good," England captain Eoin Morgan told Sky Sports.
"So certainly the hiccup we had early in our innings when we were trying to force the equation a little bit with the bat pegged us back but the composure of Liam Livingstone and Sam Billings really showed our strength in depth." - AFP. June 25, 2021
