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It needs no repeating that the background of Luteru Ross Taylor is more exotic than that of the standard New Zealand player, but still, it seems more than a mere curiosity when he says Lord's almost feels like a second home to him.
Samoans, by and large, aren't found in great stocks in leafy St John's Wood and, certainly, no more than a handful have wandered through the Long Room on their way out to the middle.
But Taylor, 24, has every reason to feel at home. In his first year out of school he was the Young Cricketer to Lord's.
"It probably sounds a bit cheesy but it does feel like I'm coming back to a place that is familiar to me. I'm enjoying being back," he says.
"Everything you do here feels special. Everything you walk past has so much tradition and history behind it."
Taylor is disappointed, however, that the scheme has been discontinued. He points to his subsequent success, that of Greg Hay, who was the last New Zealand recipient in 2004, and back to Hamish Marshall, as compelling reasons for its revival.
"I've been talking to a few people about my disappointment that it's not still going on. Greg Hay was the last and the way he's played his domestic cricket so far shows it's a worthwhile scholarship that hopefully can one day come back in."
Even back in 2003, when his name barely registered a blip on the cricketing radar, those in cricket circles had little doubt Taylor would be back at Lord's one day, wearing the cap of his country rather than cleaning the changing sheds or bowling to MCC members in the nets.
Prodigiously talented (at 16 he was in the New Zealand under-19 team), Taylor and another Wairarapa-raised, Central Districts teen were turning heads with their fearless approach to batting.
Jesse Ryder will be joining Taylor in the one-day squad later in the tour but their paths to international stardom couldn't have been more divergent.
Once they got there they both made immediate impacts - Ryder, obviously, in more ways than one - but after a fast start to his one-day career, Taylor went into a small spin having a lean World Cup last year and an unsuccessful start to his career in South Africa.
That saw him dropped for the home tests against Bangladesh last season before re-staking his place against England.
His first test century at Hamilton was an outstanding innings and he followed that up with three further half-centuries.
With Stephen Fleming now out of the picture and no obvious candidates putting their hands up from behind, surely only Taylor's insecurities can prevent him enjoying a long career at No4 in the test line-up.
Insecurity might be a strange word to associate with Taylor.
His manner at the crease exudes extreme confidence, almost to the point where, like England's Kevin Pietersen, it seems he has a few tickets on himself.
That might be bit of a stage act however. Like a swan that looks so serene and graceful above the water while flapping around furiously underneath, Taylor might seem calm and composed on the outside but according to those who know him well, there is no arrogance as is suggested when he admitted that he was almost glad he had failed thus far on tour.
"If I had the choice of scoring a hundred or a duck before the first test I would take the duck," he said, defying more than a century of conventional wisdom. "I need to feel on edge a little bit.
"That might sound strange to a lot of people but, I'm probably talking gibberish here, I don't know, it's just the way I think."
Taylor certainly looked on edge on the first day, slashing his way to a skittish 19 before slogging out to Stuart Broad.
It was, to come back to the point about his confidence, an innings that suggested false bravado.
BORN IN Lower Hutt to a Samoan mother, Taylor began his career in Masterton and started making waves on the national team when he went to Palmerston North Boys' High, which has become something of a factory for churning out international cricketers (Jacob Oram, Jamie How and Mathew Sinclair also attended).
Taylor's father, a rep cricketer and a Palagi, introduced him to the game and he has been hooked ever since.
He doesn't like to overstate the fact he is one of just a few Pacific Islanders to reach the top in cricket - he is, after all, a damned good player rather than a circus act - but nevertheless recognises he could be the inspiration for children who normally wouldn't be drawn to the sport.
He says that when he was making his way in the game, people presumed he was Maori because "they didn't associate Samoans with cricket, more rugby and rugby league.
"I'm just a normal Kiwi bloke. My family are very proud of me but I don't go out there thinking, 'Gee, I'm doing something no other Samoan has done'.
"That's not the way I think but at the same time, with what I've achieved, hopefully that has opened some doors and inspired other Polynesian and Maori kids to come out and play cricket."
The results aren't immediately obvious but in 10 years, with a bagful of runs under his belt and a self-assurance that is more than a mirage, they might well be.
