Cricket: Black Caps batsman Ross Taylor still hoping to reach 2023 Cricket World Cup

A global pandemic did its best to offset plans, but Black Caps veteran Ross Taylor still hopes to be at the crease for the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

The 36-year-old batsman is in Auckland ahead of the opening Twenty20 against the West Indies on Friday, with Taylor, if selected, to take part in his 101st T20 international.

The series will be New Zealand's first hit-out since their one-day series with Australia in early March, that saw just one of three matches played due to the coronavirus outbreak.

But while the national lockdowns and sport's hiatus made many in cricketing circles miserable, Taylor enjoyed it - mainly, for a chance to reassess his future.

"What I'm going to do after cricket, I need to do something. I don't think just sitting on the couch being a critic is going to be enough," he says.

"It was nice to reassess your goals and know you still want to play international cricket, first and foremost that was the best thing. I'm just excited to be here for the summer, in March or April this looked a long way away."

Taylor pencilled in the next one-day World Cup in 2023 as a potential swansong, but that has been postponed by roughly six months. Still, Taylor is intending to play to that point, assuming his body can hold up.

"2023 was going to be a stretch at the best of times," he admits.

"Now the World Cup's been dragged out to October-November '23, another six or seven months to hang around. But you've got to have short-term goals and long-term goals, and that one-day World Cup is definitely on the radar. I might have to trim things back leading into that.

"It doesn't mean I will make it, but that's definitely one of my goals."

New Zealand's all-time leading test run scorer says given his age, the time indoors in 2020 was hugely beneficial, and allowed him to appreciate playing opportunities a bit more.

"Very good for the mind, the body maybe not as good. As you get older you need to keep playing and keep on top of it."

Taylor made his Black Caps debut back in 2006, and has played 433 international matches across all formats. He was the first player in history to reach 100 matches in each format, and is set to break Daniel Vettori's New Zealand record of 442 international games during the summer.

He says his late mentor, New Zealand great Martin Crowe, used to tell him records were meant to be broken.

"I was really happy to play one or two games for New Zealand," Taylor reflected.

"I suppose I've still got to get there."