MARK TAYLOR (CRICKETER)

'Mark Anthony Taylor' (born 27 October, 1964 in Leeton, New South Wales; nicknamed "Tubby" or "Tubs") was an Australian cricket player and Test opening batsman from 1988–1999, as well as captain from 1994–1999, succeeding Allan Border. He was widely regarded as an instrumental component in Australia's rise to Test cricket dominance, and his captaincy was regarded as adventurous and highly effective. However, he was considered less than ideal for One-Day International cricket and was eventually dropped as one-day captain after a 0-3 drubbing at the hands of England in 1997.
He moved to Wagga Wagga in 1972 and played for Lake Albert Cricket Club.^[1] His debut was for New South Wales in 1985.
He retired from Test cricket on 2 February, 1999. In 104 Test matches, he scored 7,525 runs with a batting average of 43.49, including 19 centuries and 40 fifties. He was also an excellent first slip - his 157 catches, at the time, a Test record (now held by Mark Waugh).
In contrast to his predecessor Allan Border, who acquired the nickname 'Captain Grumpy', Taylor won plaudits for always cheerful and positive demeanour. His successor, Steve Waugh, further honed the Australian team built by Border and Taylor and went on to set numerous records for victories as captain. Many feel that the development of the side under Taylor was instrumental in Waugh's subsequent success.
He was named Australian of the Year in 1999.
Having originally trained as a surveyor, he is now a cricket commentator for the Nine Network, and also appears on ''The Cricket Show'' with Simon O'Donnell. He is also a spokesman for Fujitsu air-conditioners.
He obtained a degree in surveying from the University of New South Wales in 1987.^[2]

Contents

Early years

Test career

Captaincy

Legacy

Retirement

Notes

References

External link

Early years

Taylor was the second of three children born to Tony Taylor, a bank manager, and Judy Taylor, a prominent member of the local church. Taylor's early years were spent at Wagga Wagga, where his family relocated when he was eight. His father had a sporting background, playing first grade rugby in Newcastle. The young Taylor preferred Australian rules football and cricket instead. There he learnt to bat in the family garage, with his father throwing cork balls to him. Taylor idolised Arthur Morris, the left handed opening batsmen from New South Wales who lead the aggregates on the 1948 "Invincibles" tour of England. Taylor plated for his primary school as an opening batsman, and made his first century at the age of thirteen for the Lake Albert club at Bolton in Wagga. His family then moved to the northern Sydney shore suburbs, where he joined Northern District in Sydney Grade Cricket. Taylor completed his secondary education at Chatswood High School before obtaining a degree in surveying at the University of New South Wales. Taylor joined the Waugh twins, Steve and Mark, in under-19 youth internationals for Australia against Sri Lanka in 1982-83. Taylor made his Sheffield Shield debut in 1985-86 after New South Wales was depleted with the defection of regular openers Steve Smith and John Dyson to a rebel tour of South Africa. Taylor opened with fellow debutant Mark Waugh, making 12 and 56
★ against Tasmania. His first season was highlighted by home and away centuries against South Australia, totalling 937 runs at 49.31. He had a lean season in 1987-88, after which he spent the English summer with Greenmount, helping them to win their first Bolton League title by scoring more than 1,300 runs at an average of 70.^[3][4]

Test career

A solid season in 1988-89 saw him called up into the national side for his Test debut against the West Indies for the Fourth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He made 25 and 3, and was run out in each innings in the Fifth Test. However, continued good form for the remainder of the domestic season saw him aggregate 1241 runs at 49.64 to ensure himself a place on the 1989 Ashes tour. A key reason for breaking up the successful opening combination of Geoff Marsh and David Boon was Taylor's left-handedness. This allowed Australia to field a left-right handed opening combination advocated by Australia's coach, Bob Simpson, whose partnership with southpaw Bill Lawry in the 1960s was the most prolific in Australian history. This allowed Boon and Dean Jones to drop one place in the batting order, shielding from the new ball and making them more productive.
Taylor was to total 839 runs in the six Test at 83.9, the second best series aggregate in Ashes Tests behind Don Bradman's 974 runs in 1930. In total he occupied the crease for 38 hours, more than six full days of play. He made a century in his Ashes debut in the First Test at Headingley, after Australia had been sent in on a suspect pitch. Taylor batted watchfully, reaching 96 by stumps, before reaching his maiden Test century of 136 on the second morning. It laid the foundation of Australia's 7/601. After taking a first innings lead of 171, he followed it with 60 in the second, setting up Australia's 210 run victory. In the opinion of his captain, Allan Border, it was the crucial innings of the series. Taylor continued to bat consistently, scoring half centuries in the next three Tests, of which Australia won two and drew one. In the fifth Test at Trent Bridge, he and Geoff Marsh became the first pair to bat unbroken through a day's play of Test cricket in England, amassing 301 runs. Their opening partnership of 329 created a new Ashes record and Taylor eventually finished with 219 as Australia made 6/602 to set up an innings victory. Taylor made 71 and 48 in the final Test to overtake Neil Harvey for the third highest series aggregate in Test history. He totalled 1669 runs for the tour.^[5]
He continued his strong run when he returned to Australia, with 1403 first class runs at 70.15 during the 1989-90 season, and ended 1989 with 1219 Test runs at 64.15 from 11 Tests for the calendar year. He was the first player to score more than 1000 Test runs in a debut calendar year. Taylor's debut coincided with Australia passing 400 in the first innings in nine consecutive Tests. After failing to pass single figures in the one off Test against New Zealand, he made centuries in both Tests against Sri Lanka, scoring 164 and 108 in Brisbane and Hobart respectively to help Australia win the series 1-0. This was followed by a strong three Test series against Pakistan where Taylor fifty in each of his innings. He made 52 and 101 in the First Test win in Melbourne before scoring 77 and 59 in a drawn Test in Adelaide. He ended the series with an unbeaten 101 in a rain affected match in Sydney. He ended the Test season with 712 runs at 79.11 with four centuries and three half centuries. In just over a season at Test level, he had amassed 1618 runs at 70.35. Taylor was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1990 in recognition of his achievements on the 1989 Ashes tour.
He had his first taste of captaincy in the same season, after standing in for an injured Geoff Lawson in the 1989-90 Shield final in Sydney. Taylor scored 127 and 100 as New South Wales won by 345 runs to secure its 40th Shield.
Taylor had a poor second season when England toured for the Ashes series in Australia in 1990-91. After making two half centuries in the first two Tests both won by Australia, he failed to pass 20 in the last three and finished with 213 runs at 23.66. His moderate form continued at the start of the early 1991 tour to the West Indies, regarded as the best team in the world. Up until the second innings of the Fourth Test, he had managed only 162 runs in six innings with two half centuries. He made 76 in the second innings but Australia could not repel the West Indian bowlers and were dismissed to concede the series 2-0. Taylor played a notable part in Australia's only victory of the series in the Fifth Test in St. Johns, Antigua. After scoring 59 in the first innings, Australia had threatened to collapse and squander their 189 run first innings lead. Taylor's 144 out of 265 helped Australia to set a target which caught the Carribeans' 157 runs short. The strong end to series saw him total 441 runs at 49.
During the 1991-92 Australian season, he batted consistently in a 4-0 series victory over India. He scored 94 and 60 respectively in the first two Tests, comfortably won by ten and eight wickets respectively. After 56 in the drawn Third Test, he scored 100 in second innings of the Fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval helped Australia overcome an 80 run first innings deficit and lay the foundation of a second innings total of 451 which sealed the series with a 38 run victory. By the following Test, his opening partnership with Marsh was ended when the Western Australian was dropped and replaced with Tom Moody. Marsh' omission also elevated Taylor to the vice captaincy of the team. Taylor's first Test with his new partner was not successful, scoring 2 and 16. He ended the season with 422 runs at 46.89.
The new opening combination continued to struggle on the three Test tour to Sri Lanka in mid 1992. Taylor scored 148 runs at 24.67 while Moody managed only 71 at 11.83. Such poor starts saw Australia only scrape home with a 16 run victory in the First Test before failing to force victory in the latter two against a team which at the time was regarded as a minnow. As a result, Moody was replaced by David Boon, who had moved up from his No. 3 position for the 1992-93 southern hemisphere summer. Taylor was ineffective throughout the series, with 170 runs at 24.29 and failing to pass fifty. His lowest point in the series came after making single digit scores in the Fourth Test in Adelaide, which saw Australia lose by one run and the series levelled at 1-1. After the failure by one run to seal the series over the world's leading team, Taylor was dropped for the deciding Fifth Test of the series against the West Indies. In a poor batting display, Australia was hammered by an innings within three days, being bowled out twice for a total of 297 including one collapse of 9/61.
As a result, Taylor was immediately recalled for the early 1993 tour of New Zealand. Consecutive half centuries saw Taylor retain his position for the 1993 Ashes tour. The tour marked a new phase in Australian cricket, with Boon restored to his No. 3 position, and Taylor partnered by fellow Wagga batsman Michael Slater. This change revived Australia and Taylor's opening fortunes. The pair made an opening partnership in their first outing in the First Test at Old Trafford with Taylor going onto make 124 to help Australia take the initiative and the match. This was followed by a double century stand of 260 at Lord's in the Second Test, with Taylor scoring 111, to help lay the foundation of a score of 4/632 which lead to an innings victory. He was unable to pass thirty in any of the next three Tests, of which Australia won two. He finished the tour with 70 in the Sixth Test at The Oval, which Australia lost to end the series 4-1 victors. Taylor amassed 428 runs at 42.8, not as productive as his debut tour.
Taylor had a productive series against New Zealand on home soil in 1993-94, making 64 and 142
★ in the drawn First Test in Perth. He went on to score 27 and 53 in the next two Tests, finishing with 286 runs at 95.33 as Australia won 2-0. Taylor ended the year with 170 in rain-affected Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in the first Test against South Africa since apartheid. This made him the first batsman to score centuries on Test debut against four countries. Taylor ended 1993 with 1104 Test runs at 52.57. He continued steadily with 134 runs in the last two Tests, which were shared.
This was followed by a return tour to South Africa at the end of the season, in which Taylor missed only the second Test of his career, this time with an injury which forced him to miss the First Test in Johannesburg. His return was moderate with 97 runs at 24.25.

Captaincy

At the end of the tour Allan Border retired, and Taylor rose to the captaincy. At the time, Taylor had been Border's deputy since 1992, but had been frequently omitted from the ODI team due to his slow scoring. He had been omitted from the finals of the triangular series in Australia against South Africa, and on the reciprocal tour to South Africa, missed three consecutive ODIs after fellow players and tour selectors Ian Healy and Steve Waugh voted him off. His first task was to lead his team on a Test tour of Pakistan in late 1994, where Australia had not won a Test match since the 1959 team lead by Richie Benaud. Despite scoring a pair on his captaincy debut, Australia had the upper hand in the First Test in Karachi, before a long last-wicket stand between Inzamam-Ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed saw Pakistan reach the target with a missed stumping by Ian Healy. He was the first player in Test history to make a pair on his captaincy debut. He scored 69 in the second Test. He dropped Malik when he was on 20, and Malik went on to make 237 as Pakistan saved the Test after being forced to follow on. It was during this marathon Pakistani innings that Taylor took his only wicket. With the orthodox bowling proving ineffective, Taylor, Slater and Boon all took their only wicket in their career on rare trips to the bowling crease. He scored 96 runs at 24. Australia had the upper hand in the following two Tests, but could not force a result in two high scoring draws.
Upon returning to Australia, Taylor was under pressure to register his first win as England toured for the 1994-95 Ashes series. Taylor scored 150 for New South Wales in a tour match against the Englishmen, his first century of the calendar year. Taylor contributed 59 as Australia amassed a 259 run first innings lead. Following the debacle in Rawalpindi, Taylor became the first Australian captain since Simpson in 1977-8 to not enforce the follow on. Australia set England 508 and went on to win by 184 runs. A crushing 295 run victory in the Second Test in Melbourne brought Australia to the verge of retaining the Ashes. He was at his best in the Third Test in Sydney, where he was the last man out with 49 as Australia were skittled for 116 in the first innings after rain had caused a seaming pitch. He then made 113 as Australia chased a world record 449 for victory. Following his dismissal, the match petered into a draw as Australia played for a draw. He scored half centuries in the final two Tests as Australia continued its domination over England with a 3-1 series win in the Ashes series. His partnership with Slater yielded three century opening stands at an average of 76.6 for the season. Taylor's individual return was 471 runs at 47.1 with a century and four half centuries.
This was followed by the 1995 tour to the West Indies, where Australia had not won for 22 years. Against the world champions, Australia were facing a difficult task when opening bowling pair Craig McDermott and Damien Fleming were sent home injured. Australia fielded a pace attack of Glenn McGrath, Brendon Julian and Paul Reiffel who had played 23 Tests between them. Despite this, the home team were bowled out twice in less than 120 overs, and Australia took a ten wicket victory, with Taylor contributing a half century. After the Second Test ended in a rain affected draw and the West Indies crushed Australia within three days in the Third Test on a green Trinidad pitch, Australia needed to win the Fourth Test in Jamaica to regain the Frank Worrell Trophy. Australia duly won the Test by an innings, with Taylor taking the winning catch. Although he only managed 153 runs at 25.5 in the series, he had contributed nine catches including four in the first innings of the First Test.
This was followed by a two three Test series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka respectively in the 1995-96 Australian season. The Pakistan series began among a media circus when Salim Malik arrived with publicity focused on the bribery allegations which had surfaced year earlier. Australia won the First Test in Brisbane by an innings, with Taylor contributing 69. In the Second Test at Bellerive Oval, Taylor scored 123 in the second innings to set up a winning. In the Third Test in Sydney, he made 59 as Australia collapsed for 172 in the second innings and concede the match. He ended the series with a healthy 338 runs at 67.6.
The subsequent Test and ODI series involving Sri Lanka were overshadowed by a series of spiteful clashes. The Tests were won 3-0 by the Australians with heavy margins of an innings, ten wickets and 148 runs. Taylor's highlight being a 96 in the First Test at Perth as he compiled 159 runs at 39.75. He also made his 100th Test catch during the series. After accusations of ball tampering were levelled against the tourists in the First Test, leading spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was no-balled seven times in the Second Test, and during the ODI series, the Sri Lankans accused Taylor's men of cheating. The season hit a low point with the Sri Lankans which saw the teams refuse to shake hands at the end of the second final of the triangular series which Australia won. The match had included a physical jostling between McGrath and Sanath Jayasuriya mid pitch, with the latter accusing McGrath of making racist attacks. Later in the match, stump microphones showed Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy allege that portly Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga was feigning injury and calling for a runner because of his lack of physical fitness. On the field, the season also saw Mark Waugh elevated to be Taylor's ODI opening partner after the axing of Slater.
After the spiteful summer, a Tamil Tiger bombing in Colombo coupled with death threats to some members of the team forced Taylor to forfeit his team's schedule match with Sri Lanka during the 1996 Cricket World Cup. Australia managed to reach the final, where they met Sri Lanka. Taylor scored 74, the highest score by an Australian captain in a World Cup final to date, but Sri Lanka comfortably triumphed on this occasion by seven wickets to claim the trophy. In another spiteful encounter, some players refused to shake hands after the match. Ranatunga, having declared before the match that Australian leg spinner Shane Warne was overrated, struck a six from a misexecuted flipper which turned into a full toss and promptly stuck out his tongue at the spinner.
After the end of the World Cup campaign, Bob Simpson retired as Australia's coach and was replaced by Marsh, Taylor's former batting partner. Marsh's tenure started with a short tour to India, where Taylor managed to make his first ODI century, after ~100 matches, despite being an opener. It was a disappointing tour for the team, losing the solitary Test in Delhi by eight wickets with Taylor scoring 27 and 37. The 1996-97 Australian season saw a 3-2 series win over the West Indies to consolidate their position at the top of world cricket. It was a poor season for Taylor's batting, failing to pass 50 in ten innings and ending with 153 runs at 17. His partnership with Slater was terminated when the latter was dropped and replaced with Matthew Elliott. Taylor's new partner only lasted two Tests before he was involved in a collision with Mark Waugh when running between the wickets, sustaining a knee injury. As a result, Matthew Hayden became Taylor's partner for the remaining three Tests. At the end of the series he had played eight Tests without passing fifty, and such was the concern of the selectors that they replaced the third fast bowler to reinforce the batting with Michael Bevan, regarded as the finest ODI player of his generation and hoping that his left-arm unorthodox spin would suffice.
Taylor was unable to recover in the triangular ODI series, with his scratchy batting leading to many poor starts by Australia, who missed the finals for the first time in 17? Years. The early 1997 tour to South Africa brought no upturn in Taylor's batting despite Australia winning the first two Tests and the series 2-1. He scored 80 runs at 16. His form was such that in the Second Test played on a green seaming pitch at Port Elizabeth, Australia still played Bevan as a second spinner batting at No. 7 to reinforce the batting instead of a third seamer to exploit the conditions. The 1997 Ashes tour started poorly amid rumours that Taylor was on the verge of being dropped. He batted ineffectively as Australia lost the one day series 3-0. In the first Test, Australia were skittled for 118 in the first innings with Taylor scoring seven before England amassed a lead of 360. With an Australia facing a imminent and heavy defeat and Taylor not having managed a fifty in 21 innings, media criticism peaked and calls for his dropping being deafening. The Melbourne Age ran a competition lampooning Taylor by allowing the public to forecast how many runs he would make, with most of the categories being in the 1-10 range. Simpson said that Taylor's retention in the team in spite of his poor form was fostering resentment among the players and destablising the team. Taylor scored a century of 129 in the second innings to save his career, although it was not enough to save the Test. His comeback prompted personal congratulations from Prime Minister John Howard and the management allowed the media a rare opportunity to enter the dressing room. During the period he refused offers by the manager to handle the media on his behalf. Australia then won the third, fourth and fifth Tests to retain the Ashes 3-2. Although Taylor made single figures in the three Tests following his century, he contributed 76 and 45 in the series clinching Test in Nottingham. Australia lost the Sixth Test. Taylor ended the series with 317 runs at 31.7.
Taylor's ODI form however, was not to the satisfaction of the selectors. Upon the start of the 1997-98 season, the Australian selectors announced a new selection policy, with separate Test and ODI teams, with specialists in either form of the game being selected accordingly. With his recent lack of productivity and a slow career strike rate, Taylor was dropped in favour of the aggressive Michael di Venuto, as ODI cricket had been transformed by Sri Lanka's World Cup success of being aggressive with the opening pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana. This was compounded by a pay dispute between the players and the board which threatened to see part of the season called off in a strike. Taylor continued as Test captain, leading a 2-0 win in three Tests against New Zealand. He scored a century of 112 on the first day of the First Test as Australia struggled initially. Taylor ended the drawn Third Test with an unbeaten 66 and compiled 214 runs at 53.5 for the series. This was followed by three Tests against South Africa. Taylor scored 59 in the Frist Test which South Africa managed to save after a defiant second innings resistance on the final day. After Australia took a 1-0 lead in the New Year's Test in Sydney, Taylor carried his bat with 169 in the Third Test in Adelaide in response to South Africa's 517 as Australia held on to draw the match and clinch the series.
1998 saw a three Test tour of India, where Australia had not won a series since 1969-70. After some recent poor form, Elliott was dropped and Taylor reunited with Slater. Australia started well by taking a 71 run first innings lead in the First Test at Bangalore, but a violent second innings assault lead by Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 155 from 191 saw Australia put under pressure to save the match on the final day. They were unable to resist and lost by 179 runs. Australia were then crushed by an innings and 219 runs in the Second at Calcutta, the first innings defeat in Taylor's reign. Thus, an away series victory over India remained elusive as Australia lost a series for the first time in four years. Australia won the Third Test in Bangalore by eight wickets, with Taylor scoring an unbeaten 102 in the second innings run chase after an Indian collapse saw Australia take control only in the latter stages.
Later in 1998, he lead his team back to Pakistan, where victory in the First Test at Lahore saw Australia's first Test victory there in 39 years. It was a comprehensive one, by an innings and 99 runs. The series was interrupted when he had to attend a court hearing investigating claims of match-fixing made in the previous tour, but he returned for the Second Test in Peshawar where he batted two days to amass 334
★ and equal Don Bradman's Australian record. In temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius, Taylor survived two dropped catches by the time he had reached 25. Taylor scored relatively slowly on the first day, ending at 112 after an unbroken 206 run stand with Justin Langer. The next day, he featured in a 123 run stand with Mark Waugh and individually added 103 runs in the morning session to be 215 at lunch, although the session had been lengthened from two to three hours. After the tea interval, he batted for the final session in a floppy hat as the heat began to take its toll. He passed 300 and then when he passed 311, he eclipsed Simpson's record score by and Australian captain. In the final over, Taylor equalled Bradman's record when a clip to midwicket was barely stopped by Ijaz Ahmed, denying Taylor anything more than a single. At the end of the day's play, he was inundated with messages from the public as well as his team urging him to attempt to break Brian Lara's world record of 375. A larger than usual crowd of spectators had arrived the following day. Taylor declared and opted to share the record with Bradman, putting the team's chances of winning the Test first. He was widely praised for this decision. He made a further 92 in the second innings, giving him the second highest Test match aggregate after Graham Gooch. His fifteen hours batting in one Test was second only to Hanif Mohammed. The match and the final Test were drawn and Australia clinched the series. Taylor ended the series with 513 runs at 128.25.
Taylor 's swansong was the 1998-99 Ashes series against England, which began with his 100th Test in the First Test in Brisbane. He scored 46 and a duck as England were saved when thunderstorms forced the abandonment of play on the final afternoon. Two half centuries in the next two Test in Perth and Adleaide saw Australia retain the series 2-0. After losing the Fourth Test by 13 runs after a dramatic final day collapse, Taylor headed to his home ground, the Sydney Cricket Ground for what would be his final Test. Australia went on to win the Test and take the series 3-1. Taylor only scored two in both innings, but he broke Border's world record for the most Test catches. His catch in the first innings equalled Border's 156 and another in the second made him the sole owner of the record.

Legacy

Under Taylor, Australia's growth under the Simpson-Border era was consolidated. Taylor dethroned the West Indies as the leading Test team in 1995, reclaiming the Frank Worrell Trophy for the first time in 32 years. His men proceeded to seal home and away series victories against every Test team they played, with the exception of their failure to beat India on the subcontinent. His series win in Pakistan in 1998 saw Australia's first Test win there for 39 years. His home and away series wins over South Africa in 1997 and 1998 confirmed Australia as the premier team in world cricket. Taylor captained the side in 50 Tests, winning 26 and losing 13, a success rate unmatched in the previous fifty years bar Don Bradman and Viv Richards.

Retirement

Mark Taylor retired from International Test Cricket in 1999. He is now a commentator for Channel Nine and mainly commentates on One-Day International and test matches in Australia, as to spend more time with his family.

Notes

1. Taylor, Mark
2.
3. Mark Taylor
4. The A-Z of Australian cricketers, , , Cashman, Franks, Maxwell, Sainsbury, Stoddart, Weaver, Webster, , 1997,
5. MA Taylor - Tests - Innings by innings list

References

★ The Taylor Years, , Ken, Piesse, , 1999,

External link

★ Cricinfo profile