Cricket: Taylor looks to attack Australia

Ross Taylor. Photo / Christine Cornege

If there was ever a place to make your debut as test captain, Zimbabwe would be near the top of the list.

For Ross Taylor, this meant doing it against a country who don't carry a ranking because they haven't played enough tests recently, on foreign soil away from the glare of most onlookers and during the Rugby World Cup when most people in New Zealand were distracted by something else.

Taylor was able to implement his style in the longer form of the game largely on his terms. He's not going to be able to do it quite as often in the upcoming series against Australia.

The 27-year-old is an aggressive batsman whose favourite shot is to cow corner. In his brief time in charge, he's demonstrated he's also an aggressive captain and it's an approach influenced through his association with Shane Warne at the Rajasthan Royals.

Many New Zealand teams of the past have sometimes felt a draw is as good as a win but Taylor wants to change that mindset, especially when few tests in the modern era go the distance.

He made a bold declaration against Zimbabwe to leave them a target of 366 to win the one-off test. It might have represented the fourth-highest run chase in test history but it was on a flat wicket in Bulawayo that wasn't deteriorating as quickly as a weakened New Zealand attack might have liked and against a tidy Zimbabwe batting lineup.

The home side got close, being 303 for five at one stage before folding to be all out for 331, but they might not have chased it at all had they been given a tougher target.

"I try to be as attacking as possible and get the best out of individuals," Taylor says before the team headed to Australia. "We have had a bowler as a captain before so I guess I am a batting captain.

"If we had lost that game, people would have said it was a woeful target. If it had been a draw, it could have been different as well. In hindsight it looked good, but maybe in the next game I won't be so attacking. When you make decisions like that, you talk to a lot of people. It's not just making a decision at that time."

One of those is Vettori. The former captain was more conservative by nature and it's unlikely he would have set Zimbabwe such a tantalising target.

It is a useful voice to have in Taylor's ear, although Vettori has preferred to give him the space to to establish his own leadership style. Taylor also seeks the advice of senior players like Brendon McCullum, the player he won the captaincy job over, and coach John Wright.

"But at the end of the day you have to make your own mind up," he emphasises. "They all come up with different opinions and you need to make a decision."

Taylor is naturally quiet and has always been an analyst of the game. He leads more by his actions than his words but, crucially, he performs when he's in charge.

He scored two knocks of 76 in the Zimbabwe test and his one-day international average of 44.20 in 10 completed matches as captain compares favourably to his average of 35.79 when he's not. He also steps up against Australia, and has scored 366 runs at 45.75 in the four tests against the traditional foe (he averages 42.37 in 31 tests).

"The key against Australia is taking it to them," he says. "It's not sitting back and trying to drag the game out. That will play against you.

"You have to be attacking, but be sensible about it. It's not all about going out there and scoring four an over but if we sit back Australia will always run over you."

They have done that for some time, considering New Zealand haven't won a test against Australia since 1993. The upcoming series presents a good chance to change that, especially as Michael Clarke's side showed areas of brittleness against South Africa and New Zealand are putting together a decent top order.

It's up to Taylor to call the coin toss correctly - winning the toss in Brisbane is important on a pitch that has historically favoured the seamers - and also make the right calls out in the middle. He admits he made mistakes against Zimbabwe but none were glaringly obvious and certainly not terminal.

"I still don't think I have found the right way I want to go about things," he says. "I made some mistakes [against Zimbabwe] but also some good tactical plays. I'm sure I will evaluate myself more when we play against the West Indies in the Caribbean [in 12 months' time]."

There will be plenty who evaluate him before then.