KEY POINTS:
There's no way around the straightforward bleedin' obvious if you ask Ross Taylor the key to stepping up from his modest start to test cricket in South Africa in November.
His two tests produced 15, 4, 17, 8 as he, along with his batting colleagues, were nailed by Dale Steyn and his fast chums in the course of a 2-0 series beating.
Now Taylor, back after being omitted for the two Bangladesh tests, is determined to show he's made of better stuff and he is coming off a tidy ODI series against England.
And the main requirement is simple.
"Just scoring runs is the biggest thing," he said yesterday. "A lot of people can tell you how to score runs and what to do, but it's up to you to take it upon yourself to go out and do that. Once you get a score you get confidence from that. Once that grows, you learn more and become a better player for it."
Sounds easy when you put it like that. It's not, as England's bowlers will attempt to demonstrate over five days at Hamilton's Seddon Park in the first test starting tomorrow.
Taylor acknowledged he went through a difficult time after the South African tests.
"There was probably a month after that when I was down in confidence wondering what I could have done better on that tour. I was young and inexperienced. I'm still inexperienced but hopefully I can learn from those four digs."
Taylor's hitting packs a punch. Armed with a strong bottom hand, he peppers the onside when he is set and seeing the ball well.
His ODI form against England was steady. He made 48 in an important stand with Central Districts teammate Jamie How in the tie at Napier, which kept New Zealand's momentum ahead of the required rate.
His 41 not out seemed likely to steer New Zealand home before the rain came in the final match at Christchurch. It was a conscientious effort, when other more experienced batsmen had squandered their chance to get the job done.
Taylor's reputation is as an attacker, and prone to being impetuous, and he knows there's a spot of reining in to be done. But not too much.
"Yeah, that's an art in itself," Taylor said. "In saying that, there's a lot of players in world cricket who do play a lot of shots during their career.
"It's just finding that balance and I'm sure over the next couple of days I'll work on leaving the ball more."
But he does not want to remove his natural instinct - recognising that a half volley should be dispatched forcibly. Scott Styris has retired from tests; Stephen Fleming is on his bell lap. There's a long-term middle order position to be grabbed. Taylor's chance starts tomorrow.
