Ross Taylor Comes Out Of Retirement Set To Play For Samoa

Ross Taylor has come out of retirement to represent Samoa in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup Asia-East Asia Pacific Qualifier. This tournament is the final step in Samoa's path to qualification for next year's Men's T20 World Cup. The former New Zealand international took to social media to announce his decision.

"Yes, it's official, I'm returning to the field again, it's good to be wearing the blue jersey representing Samoa in cricket, this is more than just a game that I love, it'll be exciting to be back on the field again, it's huge honour to play for my family, village, heritage & my culture" Taylor said.

Taylor is eligible to play for Samoa due to his mother's heritage, who is of Samoan descent. Having completed his 3-year standoff period after playing his last game for New Zealand in April 2022, Taylor is now eligible to play his second International side Samoa in Cricket.

For New Zealand, the now 41-year-old Taylor made 450 international appearances and scored 18,199 international runs across formats (Tests - 7683, ODIs - 8607, T20Is - 1909). He was also part of the New Zealand side that won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship in June 2021.

"Yes, I'm excited to play again, after being away for some time. I'm now eligible to play. Initially, my thought was to do coaching & other stuff; I hadn't thought I would be playing again. The team just got announced today, & I'm all pumped to represent my Mother's country of birth."

Taylor also stated that he needed to get into rhythm quickly, as he hadn't played much cricket since his retirement from New Zealand in 2022.

"Yes, obviously it'll be different as I've not played much cricket in these years. So it'll be a bit of a shocker for the body, it's not exact that I've not picked up a bat in these three years, I've played some tournaments, obviously I'm not as quick as I used to be, but it was good to train for a month or two at 41, hopefully the body stays good."

Samoa will begin its campaign on October 8 in Oman. They will face Oman and Papua New Guinea in their two group games.