All posts by n8rngtd.top

Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and a Kevin Pietersen-led consortium also express interest

Firdose Moonda05-May-2022Four IPL franchises – Delhi Capitals, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals – and a consortium led by Kevin Pietersen have expressed interest in buying franchises in South Africa’s new T20 tournament. The competition, scheduled for January next year, is set to include six privately owned teams, who will play each other home and away over a group stage of 30 matches before the playoffs.This is CSA’s third attempt at launching a T20 competition after the failed Global League T20 (GLT20) in 2017 and the now-defunct Mzansi Super League (MSL), which was played in 2018 and 2019. According to a document shared at a special meeting of Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Members’ Council, CSA is aiming to create the “second best T20 league in the world” after the IPL. The document acknowledges that only the IPL has enjoyed “runaway success” and that there is a “clear gap” between India’s T20 league and the others, which leaves CSA with no choice but to focus on being second-best in the T20 tournament stakes.To that end it has involved the one person who knows how to create league success better than most: Sundar Raman, the former chief operating officer (COO) of the IPL, has acquired a minority share in the competition. The document has Raman owning a 12.5% share of the yet-to-be-named tournament, with CSA maintaining the majority share (57.5%) and broadcaster SuperSport owning the remaining 30%.CSA estimates that the league will cost it USD 56 million over 10 years, and will make revenues of USD 30 million in the same period. But added to that is also a commitment from SuperSport to pay USD 89 million, which will allow CSA and the franchises to make a profit – to be split 50-50 – in the first decade. The document claims the league will be “an economically viable project for CSA from day 1”, which makes it different to the other two attempts.The GLT20, which was abandoned for reasons including the absence of a broadcast partner, cost over R300 million (USD 19.1 million) and the two MSL events, which were screened on the public broadcaster, the SABC, for a negligible fee of R25 million (USD 1.6 million), cost over R200 million (USD 12.7 million). Both significantly reduced CSA’s reserves, which some say sit at such a low level that the game in South Africa is at risk of becoming seriously financially constrained in the near future.It is with that concern in mind that CSA has opted to dip its toes back into the T20 market, noting that the “success of the IPL has changed the face and the economics of the BCCI”, and hoping something similar can happen for CSA. As a result, it has ruled out any “experiments”, such as playing a T10 or 100-ball format, and aims to get “100 of the best and available players” with around half from South Africa. CSA’s aim is that by 2033, the tournament would have “redefined the landscape and economics of cricket in South Africa”, and plans that by the 11th year of the tournament, each franchise will pay CSA 20% of their revenues.South Africa also host three ICC events in the next five years, which will not only enhance the country’s profile as a major tournament host but also bring in much-needed revenue. They will stage the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in January 2023, followed by the Women’s T20 World Cup in February and co-host Men’s ODI World Cup in 2027, along with Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The games will be played in Dehradun, a north Indian city that has not hosted international cricket before

ESPNcricinfo staff09-May-2018Ahead of their highly anticipated Test debut against India next month, Afghanistan will also host Bangladesh for three T20 internationals in Dehradun, the capital of the state of Uttarakhand in north India.The matches are all day-night fixtures beginning at 8pm IST and will be played on June 3, 5 and 7. They will be the first significant fixtures held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun.”From the report I got, the ground looks fine and there are enough facilities. The hotels are also quite good,” Akram Khan, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. The only slight problem being the hotel is about 45 minutes from the ground. Otherwise everything seems fine. I think we will also be playing a practice match ahead of the three-match series.”The two countries have played each other only once previously – at the 2014 World Twenty20 in Dhaka – where hosts Bangladesh routed Afghanistan by nine wickets. Afghanistan are currently ranked eighth on the ICC T20I team rankings, and Bangladesh are tenth.The Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai said: “The ongoing training camp in India in which players from the national and U-19 teams as well as top performers from domestic cricket will help the selection committee to select a strong side for the T20I series against Bangladesh. These matches will be important for both sides to gain valuable points in the ICC rankings and the lead up to the 2020 ICC World Twenty20″.”This promises to be a very competitive series,” BCB chief executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury said. “Afghanistan have some fine players for this format and they will have the advantage of familiarity with the conditions in Dehradun. However, the Bangladesh team is a confident and experienced unit and we are really looking forward to the matches.”Afghanistan’s one-off Test against India begins in Bengaluru on June 14.

Mark Davis has left Sussex by “mutual consent” after the club’s failure to achieve Championship promotion

George Dobell25-Oct-2017Sussex have confirmed the departure of their head coach, Mark Davis. While the club insisted the decision was reached by “mutual consent”, it is clear Davis paid the price for Sussex’s failure to achieve Championship promotion and an over-reliance upon imported players. It is also understood that Davis lost the confidence of some senior figures in the dressing room.Sussex are now expected to hold a thorough recruitment process to appoint a successor. Chris Adams, captain during their three County Championship triumphs in the 2000s, is certain to be a strong candidate for the role with a possibility that he might be able to coax former team-mate Matt Prior back to the game in some sort of part-time, back-room role. Prior retired in 2015 due to injury and has subsequently moved into cycling as the co-owner and chief executive of One Pro Cycling.Confirmation of Davis’ departure comes a day after long-serving batsman Chris Nash was released and Rob Andrew, Sussex’s chief executive, said it was time to try and take the club in a new direction.”After reviewing a disappointing season for the first team, it was concluded that action needed to be taken in order to build for the future,” Andrew said. “The difficult decisions to part company with Mark by mutual consent and to agree to Chris’ request to be released from his contract were part of that action, but at its core were moves to solidify the foundations of a squad that has the potential to achieve great things in the coming years.”As such, a number of players have been offered and have signed new or extended contracts over recent weeks, and more are set to follow. This means we now have a stable and balanced squad made up of a mix of youth and experience that offers real strength across all disciplines.”Whoever is appointed is likely to be expected to show much greater faith in home-grown talent than was the case in 2017. While the club have enjoyed some success at age-group level in recent seasons, there were times last season when four or five of the team was made up of players ineligible for England – including Kolpak signings Stiaan van Zyl and David Wiese – which inevitably limited the opportunities for younger players.”I strongly believe that when a new head coach is appointed, they will have the raw materials with which to build a trophy-winning side,” Andrew said. “We are continuing to work on our four-year strategic plan for the wider organisation and there will be further news on this in due course.”A major part of that strategy will be the on-going development of home-grown Sussex players by our Performance Department. This work will continue the well-established trend of Sussex-bred bowlers and batsmen making their mark in the 1st XI.”Davis’ departure ends a long and generally happy association with Sussex. First as a player (he was part of the squad that won the County Championship for the first time in the club’s history in 2003) and then as a coach – he started as 2nd XI coach before being appointed head coach in 2015 – he has been associated with the club for 17 years.In a statement released by the club, Davis said: “I have established a very strong squad including Jofra Archer, Stiaan van Zyl and Laurie Evans and given opportunity to a number of young players who will no doubt achieve great things in the future.”The professional squad is very well set for the challenges ahead and I am confident these players will bring silverware to the club. I would like to thank all the players, support staff and coaches who supported me, as well as all the faithful Sussex supporters”.

England Under-19s produced a brilliant performance to clinch their series against South Africa by winning the second unofficial Test by four wickets

ECB Reporters Network18-Jul-2018
ScorecardEngland Under-19s produced a brilliant performance to clinch their series against South Africa by winning the second unofficial Test by four wickets at Emirates Riverside.The home side were bowled out for 133 in their first innings, trailing the Proteas by a sizable margin. However, the bowlers responded as Adam Finch led the way with four wickets, while Jack Plom and Sam Connors struck twice to dismiss the tourists for 90.There was still work ahead for the batsmen to chase down 167 to win the contest. Early wickets put the pressure on the middle order, but contributions from Tom Banton, Jack Haynes, George Lavelle, Harrison Ward and Jack Davies allowed England to seal the win to secure the Test series.England resumed day three on 121 for 9, and Finch found the boundary on a couple of occasions. However, the innings was ended when Connors was caught behind off the bowling of Gideon Peters, with the home side still 76 runs behind.The Proteas made a solid start to their innings, taking their lead beyond 100 runs before Plom produced a brilliant over to bring the home side back into contention. First the Essex seamer produced a superb delivery to remove Joshua Richards’ middle stump.Louis van Schalk fell first ball courtesy of a suicidal run out as Plom had time to run to the stumps and whip the bails off at the keeper’s end. The collapse continued as Wandile Makwetu edged behind to Davies to hand England their third wicket in three balls. The bowlers kept the pressure on the Proteas and Connors claimed his first strike when Jacob Miltz was caught behind.South Africa lost their fifth wicket on the stroke of lunch when Sinethemba Qeshile attempted to sweep Ward, but missed the connection and was out lbw for 14. After lunch, Connors returned from the Lumley End and nipped one back off the seam to pin Jason Niemand, putting the pressure on the tail.Finch came into the attack to remove Jade de Klerk, who was caught by Lavelle. His dismissal sparked a collapse in the innings as the Worcestershire bowler wrapped up the tail cheaply. Thando Ntini was the first to fall before Mondli Khumalo and Kgaudisa Molefe were out in within the space of four deliveries.England’s reply got off to a bad start in their chase of 167. Ntini clean bowled Ollie Robinson in the second over, while Ben Charlesworth followed his opening partner back to the pavilion for four as Gideon Peters produced a good delivery. Skipper Banton turned the momentum back in his side’s favour, hitting 17 off a Peters’ over before the tea break.Banton continued to make progress, but was then out lbw attempting a reverse sweep off Molefe, ending a stand worth 61 with Haynes. Ntini returned for a second spell from the Lumley End and in his fifth over he removed Haynes, who was caught behind for 27. Lavelle upped the ante with five boundaries to try to put the pressure back on the tourists. However, his dismissal for 25 to Khumalo offered a South Africa hope of snatching the victory.Ward and Davies held their composure to reach their fifty partnership off 126 balls, and although Ward fell to Peters, England were still able to close out the victory.

Netherlands’ total swept aside by unbroken stand worth 163 in 20.1 overs with Jos Buttler

Matt Roller22-Jun-2022England blazed down a target of 245 in 30.1 overs to seal a 3-0 clean sweep against Netherlands in Amstelveen and go top of the World Cup Super League in the process.Jason Roy and Jos Buttler put on an unbroken 163 for the third wicket in just 20.1 overs, with Roy reaching an 86-ball hundred – his first ODI century since the 2019 World Cup – off the final ball of the 30th over, driving Bas de Leede through mid-off for four; Buttler crunched the next ball, off Tim Pringle, over the media tent for six to seal the win.Netherlands were well-placed at 203 for 3 with a ball left in the 40th over after being asked to bat first by Buttler, deputising for the injured Eoin Morgan, but lost their last seven wickets for 41 runs and were bowled out with four deliveries unused.David Willey was the pick of the England attack with 4 for 36, returning to mop up the lower order after dismissing Vikramjit Singh for the third time in the series, and Netherlands were clearly some way short of par on a fresh, dry pitch on another beautiful day in Amsterdam’s suburbs.Scott Edwards, who has replaced the retired Pieter Seelaar as Netherlands’ captain, made his third half-century of the series while de Leede and Max O’Dowd also reached 50, but none could press on and convert their starts into something substantial.Roy was dropped twice, on 51 by Edwards off Aryan Dutt and inexplicably on 75 when Fred Klaassen, playing his first game of the series after county commitments with Kent, induced a leading edge with a slower ball but put down a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance.Paul van Meekeren, who had recovered from an ankle injury he suffered while playing for Gloucestershire, struck twice at the end of the powerplay after England had set off at a relentless pace: Phil Salt was bowled by a nip-backer for 49 off 30 balls, and Dawid Malan set up on off stump only to be bowled around his legs without scoring.But Roy and Buttler – bizarrely, batting together in an ODI for only the third time – continued to attack and flogged each of the six bowlers that the Netherlands used. Buttler took 26 from a van Meekeren over, including a merciless slog over square leg as a back-of-the-hand slower ball went wrong, but there was still time for Roy to complete his hundred.Buttler was again promoted to No. 4, a role which he seems increasingly likely to fill in the 2023 World Cup as England look to make the most of his talent, and shuffled his bowlers well in Morgan’s absence, confirming his status as the out-of-form captain’s heir apparent.After Willey had removed Singh, plinking a pull to short midwicket, David Payne, making his England debut at the age of 31, was unfortunate not to pick up an early wicket as he found some nip off the seam with the new ball. With the final ball of his third over, he induced a top-edged pull from Tom Cooper, but Liam Livingstone lost the ball in the sun and pulled out of the catch, letting it drop a few metres away from his feet.David Willey finished with 4 for 36•Getty Images

After a sedate start, the Netherlands upped the tempo to reach 47 for 1 at the end of the powerplay with Cooper, who looked increasingly fluent as his comeback series has worn on, stroking Willey for three boundaries in an over.Brydon Carse, auditioning for the Liam Plunkett role as England’s enforcer, was thrown the ball in the middle overs and stuck to his guns, continuing to bang the ball in despite being pulled for four twice in his second over. He had Cooper caught at deep backward square leg on the hook, Livingstone managing to pick the ball up through the sun thanks to a flatter trajectory.Buttler turned to spin after drinks and it was Livingstone who removed the set O’Dowd for exactly 50, the ball after he had brought up a 68-ball half-century. O’Dowd’s fifty was his second of the series and his fourth in his last five ODI innings, but he had to drag himself off after a thin edge behind while looking to rotate the strike.Edwards and de Leede had to rebuild after the loss of two set batters and the Netherlands went more than 10 overs without a boundary in the middle overs, though both batters rotated well. Edwards was dropped at fine leg by Dawid Malan when top-edging a pull off Carse, shortly after de Leede – the coming man of Dutch cricket – had brought up his maiden ODI half-century.He fell soon after, top-edging a pull off Carse to Adil Rashid who ran round from midwicket to square leg, and as the Netherlands looked for a grandstand finish, their innings unravelled: Teja Nidamanuru was sharply stumped by Buttler off Rashid, Logan van Beek chipped Willey to mid-off, and Pringle was run out after a mix-up with Edwards. Willey also removed Dutt and van Meekeren to finish the job, with Payne picking up his maiden ODI wicket when Edwards failed to pick his slower ball and miscued to mid-on.

A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches played on May 5, 2017

Mohammad Isam02-May-2017Taijul Islam’s six wickets spun out Legends of Rupganj for 84 as Mohammedan Sporting Club clinched a low-scoring encounter by 51 runs at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar.Known more as a Test specialist, left-arm spinner Taijul got his second six-wicket haul in List-A cricket as Rupganj were skittled out in 32.4 overs in reply to Mohammedan’s below-par 135.Rupganj’s innings saw only Yasir Ali, Naeem Islam and Mosharraf Hossain reaching double figures. Apart from Taijul’s six wickets, Sajedul Islam took two wickets.Earlier left-arm spinner Asif Hasan took four wickets while Mohammad Sharif and Jalaj Saxena took two wickets apiece as Mohammedan were bowled out for 135 runs in 39.4 overs. Captain Raqibul Hasan top scored with 24 as the rest of the batting line-up had plenty of starts but no big score.Abahani Limited got back to winning ways with a six-wicket win over Kalabagan Krira Chakra at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar.Kalabagan were constrained by Shuvagata Hom’s accuracy as the offspinner took four wickets. One of his scalps was that of Tushar Imran, who top scored with 36. Mohammad Saifuddin and Manan Sharma took two wickets each as Kalabagan were bowled out for 156 in 45.5 overs.Saif Hassan struck 61 off 62 balls with six fours and a six as the defending champions reached the target with 19.4 overs to spare.A 123-run third-wicket stand between Shahriar Nafees and Marshall Ayub eased Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club to a seven-wicket win over Prime Bank Cricket Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.Both batsmen made fifties with Marshall making 62 off 85 balls with six boundaries while Nafees struck an unbeaten 78. He hit five fours and a six in his 125-ball knock.Earlier batting first, Prime Bank were bowled out for 180 in 49.5 overs. Zakir Hasan reached his third List A fifty but it was a pain-staking effort as he tried to keep the crumbling innings together. He struck two fours and a six in his 103-ball innings. Farhad Reza and Delwar Hossain took three wickets each for Prime Doleshwar.

Test greats become legends in their own lifetimes, even as news of Shane Warne’s death casts launch in strange light

Cameron Ponsonby07-Mar-2022Ian Botham is sitting next to old friend Viv Richards as they unveil the new Richards-Botham Trophy that England and West Indies will now compete for in Test cricket. And with a press conference, a photo-op, and a handshake, they have officially done it. They have been immortalised, not for the first time, in their own lifetimes.After the press conference, Richards is asked if part of his friendship with Botham was down to the fact that took their games to a level that only the other could relate to and understand.No, comes the answer. He was attracted to the person before the cricketer. That there was a magnetism about Botham. And that he, Botham, was like Richards.Yeah, geniuses attract other geniuses.In all, it’s a strange, if nice, event that celebrates the friendship between two men, and honours them as cricketers. It’s easy to roll your eyes at gestures that are meaningless in the greater scheme of things but, on an individual level, there’s no doubt it means a lot to the two men being honoured. An act that rekindles the fires behind two names that are greats of the game, not just among the best.And people love that stuff. In 2016, we named our club’s third XI trophy after a former player. It’s still his WhatsApp profile picture. It’s nice to do nice things.What’s more, Viv and Beefy’s relationship is worth celebrating as two people who found home comforts in someone from the other side of the world. They are each other’s Irish pub on the beachfront in Benidorm.”We made our first-class [County Championship] debuts together in 1974 against Lancashire at Taunton,” Botham says. “And that was really the start of what was, well, it was there already, but to take it to the levels that it did. He is the godfather to my son and you know it’s a special relationship and these things don’t come along very often.”The event celebrated a friendship, but it also mourned the loss of another, with the uncomfortable balance of two men being immortalised while addressing the death of a friend running throughout.Related

• Our retro T20 XI? Sobers, Richards, Bradman… oh, wait

• 1981: Botham, Willis, Brearley, magic

• Why Headingley 1981 is a work of art

It was the press conference of one man (Botham) who had just lost a close friend and has unsurprisingly spent 48 hours thinking about what those around him really mean to him. And another (Richards) who was sitting next to a friend in mourning and wasn’t quite sure how to pitch it. Who really knows how to react in such circumstances.At one point Richards – who, as fate would have it, turns 70 today – made a joke about how the news about Shane Warne had him “checking my shoulder, you know – what’s coming next”.One person laughs. In fact, they find it hilarious. The rest of the room is trying to work out if they think it’s appropriate, let alone funny, but this guy is deep into a hero-worship laugh. The type your boss gets for saying, “oh, half-day is it?”, when a colleague walks in two minutes late.At one point, Botham is asked about the omission from the Test squad of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. And within an answer that eventually concludes that he thinks they will be back, he says, “Look, you move on. Time moves things on. You’ve got to look forward to the future and we can’t go on forever.”It’s a fine and sensible message. It’s just a bit of a peculiar one to emerge at a ceremony that is commemorating the past with a newly unveiled trophy, while at the same time celebrating a lifelong friendship and the memories of a recently deceased friend.And yet, there is a difference between living in the past and celebrating it. And through doing the latter, things do live on and legends and legacies remain. Otherwise, none of us would be here at the unveiling of the Richards-Botham Trophy. And that guy definitely wouldn’t have been laughing at Richards’ awkward joke.

Former Scotland captain addresses findings ahead of New Zealand T20i

Sam Dalling27-Jul-2022Former Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer hopes the “shocking” findings of the Changing the Boundaries report published on Monday can be the catalyst for change in Scottish cricket.Carried out by consultancy firm Plan4Sport, the report cited 448 examples of institutional racism, with Cricket Scotland failing all but two of the 31 tests used to measure the scale of the issues.Last Sunday, ahead of the report’s publication, Cricket Scotland’s entire board resigned, in doing so offering an apology to those affected by institutional racism.Most notably that included the former Scotland internationals whose allegations had set the review in motion, Majid Haq and Qasim Sheikh.Both were present at The Grange for the first match of Scotland’s series with New Zealand. Coetzer, who recently retired from T20I cricket but will continue to represent his country in one-day internationals, was speaking as part of the ICC’s live-stream coverage.”The report obviously showed some shocking findings,” he said. “Everyone processes things in their own way and everyone will have their own emotions around this. Everyone’s probably trying to take a chance to reflect and understand everything and learn as best we can.”But nobody should face racism and discrimination in the sport or any sport for that matter. And I know, being part of the playing group, we wholeheartedly hope that everyone can get through this, and I hope that things can move forward in a positive way.”More than 100 participants from across Scottish cricket were spoken to as part of Plan4Sport’s investigations. The report outlined 68 individual concerns that have been referred for further investigation. This includes 31 allegations of racism against 15 different people, two clubs and one regional association.It was also recommended that Cricket Scotland be placed under special measures by SportScotland until at least October 2023. An urgent review into Cricket Scotland’s governance was also proposed, while it was suggested that a minimum of 25% of new board members should be Black, South-East Asian, or other mixed or multiple ethnic groups.Coetzer, though, believes that the report should just be the starting point: “There’s a number of findings in there that need to be addressed and looked at so that’d be a good starting point,” he said.”But it’s also about trying to learn and trying to understand about this whole process and speak to each other to try and find out what would be best moving forward. It’s important that we can all work together and move in a more positive way and find positive changes in our sport. Hopefully, we can be a leading light for that in Scotland.”

AB de Villiers is “not picking and choosing” the Tests he plays, according to CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2017AB de Villiers will not be able to pick and choose the Tests he wishes to play, according to CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat. And once de Villiers does return to the format, Lorgat said, he will not have the luxury of taking time off when he wanted.On Tuesday, de Villiers said he would not be available for selection for the Test series in New Zealand in March, and that limited-overs cricket was a priority for him in order to play the 2019 World Cup. De Villiers said he was not retiring from Test cricket but was not yet ready to return to the format. Having been out of action since August last year because of an elbow injury, he said he was fit again and going to play the third T20I against Sri Lanka on January 25.”This is a plan that we had six months ago. It’s just a case of when he starts or when he returns,” Lorgat said. “Because once he starts, there’s no stopping and no time off. When you play, you play continuously. So he’s not picking and choosing. These are deliberate discussions that we’re having and which will continue.”ODI cricket is the focus because he’s the captain. Test cricket is different. We’ve got a settled team, we’ve got the resources to go through. If he was not the captain of the ODI team it might have been different. Same with T20s – we’ve got enough talent there and he’s not leading the side. But with respect to ODIs, he will play every ODI because he’s the captain.”Lorgat said de Villiers’ decision to not play the Tests in New Zealand was no surprise because of the discussions they had been having in which the 2019 World Cup was a top priority.Under Faf du Plessis’ leadership and in de Villiers’ absence, South Africa won their two most recent series – first in Australia and then at home against Sri Lanka. That form will also shape the nature of de Villiers’ return.”I’m most satisfied by the kind of conversations we’re having with him,” Lorgat said. “He’s clear about when he’s going to be ready and when he’s not ready. His clarity is important because then selectors are aware and we move on. You’ve seen what’s happened in the last few months. We’ve built the team without AB, and that’s a very big positive. The absence of AB has allowed others to step up, and we’ve developed other players. It’s fantastic from my point of view that we have more than 11 that can take the field and be a winning formula.”Lorgat was confident that de Villiers would be ready to play the Tests in the summer in England, but said that his return would be dependent on the form of the players in the squad at the time. “If the selectors and the team feel that they have a winning team going, AB is fully aware that it’s the selectors that will determine whether he comes back into the team or not.”

Retirement hasn’t quite sunk in with the New Zealand batter focused on bouncing back from the Mount Maunganui defeat against Bangladesh

Alagappan Muthu07-Jan-2022Ross Taylor will soon be spending a lot less time on the cricket field and there’s at least one person who’s going to be fairly happy about that.”My daughter still hasn’t grasped the concept of five-day cricket yet. When I got out the other day she said, ‘Come on, Dad, let’s go home’.”Come Sunday, Taylor will be playing his final Test match of a career that began in 2007. He has seen great highs – hitting the runs that made New Zealand the first-ever Test world champions – and great lows, especially during a captaincy stint that went horribly wrong.”It doesn’t feel like it, my last game,” he said. “It hasn’t really dawned on me just yet. I suppose when you’ve still got one-dayers to go… if it was my last game full stop, then definitely it might feel a little bit different.”Related

• 'Do the basics well and for a long period' – the plan that worked for New Zealand

• New Zealand look to bounce back against joyous Bangladesh

• Latham admits Bangladesh 'certainly outplayed us'

• Bangladesh 'crossed all barriers to bring a wonderful win'

New Zealand will play Australia across three ODIs and three T20Is later this year. Perhaps that might be the time Taylor really figures out what it means to hang up those well-worn boots. For now, his focus is on bouncing back from 1-0 down against a fighting Bangladesh in Christchurch.”It’s all to play for here at a ground that we know well. I still think we’re learning how to play in the Mount,” he said. “But we know what to expect a lot more here than we did in the Mount (Maunganui), I think. It’s going to have bounce and carry the whole time. There’s going to be a lot of grass on it. It’s conditions that us batters are used to and I’m sure our bowlers are as well.”So, if we win the toss, we’re more often than not going to bowl and if you’re batting first, you’ve got to scrap through. Sometimes our lower order has got us out of trouble. So just trying to scrap to 200 can be well above par. We’ll just have to wait and see.”New Zealand have played eight Test matches at Hagley Oval. And they have lost only one of them. Mount Maunganui is a relatively newer ground which has hosted only three Test matches so far, and Ebadot Hossain, in particular, used it to throw up a challenge that, in Taylor’s estimation, they weren’t ready for.”They were patient, they brought the stumps into play, they made us hit straight down the ground and a lot of our players probably haven’t faced reverse swing for a majority of their careers,” he said. “It’s probably only been sporadic in the domestic circuit. And they bowled very well with it. Got it going both ways. But here, in Christchurch, the conditions will suit us a lot more than they probably did in the Mount.”So are things falling in place for a memorable Taylor farewell?”As a team, we definitely want to try and turn things around and send him off in a nice, positive way,” team-mate Devon Conway said. “It’s been a real honour to play alongside him even though it’s been sort of five Test matches for me personally but just to be in and around Ross in that change-room, it is an honour.”We spoke about it as the game ended in the Mount last week. We said we needed to try and bounce back and send him off on a positive note and try and remind him as to what he’s done throughout Test cricket.”The last New Zealand player who retired at Hagley Oval went off with a proper bang. Brendon McCullum exited the stage having struck the fastest hundred in all of Test cricket. What’s it like having to be his follow-up act?”Aw, jeepers – he’s set the bar very high,” Taylor said. “Jeepers! As I said, it’d just be good to have a win, I think. Get our first win of the summer under our belt. But in terms of being Bazesque, yeah, I don’t think there’s going to be many people who are going to be able to do what he did in his last match.”If there was one thing that Taylor did want from his final Test, it was to do well for his friends and family. “They’ve been a big part of my career today,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of the young kids that are in the side and I’ve been fortunate now that my kids are a bit older that they’ve been able to see me play, watch Dad go through the ups and downs and they’ve experienced a lot of things that I’m sure if it wasn’t for cricket they wouldn’t have been able to see. So yeah, it’s cool to have them here and hopefully we can turn up and play cool.”And will he miss the grind? “Oh 100%. But there’s aspects that I won’t miss as well,” Taylor said. “But, you know, all good things have to come to an end. I’m just looking forward to this Test match, then hopefully a few more one-dayers, and then on to the next chapter.”