Ross Taylor reverses international retirement at 41, but not for New Zealand

Legendary New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor has announced his return to international cricket, but with a twist. The 41-year-old Ross Taylor retired from all forms of international cricket in 2022, but he has decided to play for Samoa in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier.

Taylor also holds a Samoan passport as a result of her mother’s heritage, which allows him to play for the island country. He has also completed the three-year standoff period, as his last game for New Zealand was in April 2022.

Ross Taylor returns to international cricket with Samoa 

For New Zealand, Taylor played 112 Tests, 236 ODIs and 102 T20Is between 2006 and 2022, scoring 7683, 8607 and 1909 runs respectively in the three formats.

“It’s official - I’m proud to announce that I’ll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket. This is more than just a return to the game I love - it’s the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family,” Taylor said.

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“Yeah, I’m excited. It’s been a few months in the pipeline, but obviously the team just got announced today, so I had to make it exciting to represent the country of my mother’s birth,” Taylor added. “I always thought it would be more in coaching and other avenues. I never thought I’d play, but as the opportunity arose, yeah, looking forward to getting out there and hopefully representing and doing my best for Samoa.”

Taylor admitted that his return to international cricket is going to be anything but easy.

“Yeah, I obviously haven’t played a lot of cricket like we used to, so it’d be a bit of a shock to the system. But I’ve played in some tournaments, so it’s not as if I’ve gone three or four years without having played. But, yeah, I need to get up to speed as quick as I can. But that was the other thing that was nice to be able to do, train for a month or so, a couple of months, just to see how the body reacted and hopefully, not what it used to be at 41, but hopefully it’s good enough.”

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The ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier is the final opportunity for Samoa to qualify for next 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup. Taylor’s debut for Samoa can come against Oman on 8 October.