Taylor having time of his life
Posted: Wednesday October 21, 1998 04:21 PM
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Taylor said his performance to equal Bradman's mark was something he would always remember Ben Radford/Allsport |
SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) -- His oldest son says he does not work, he just plays cricket all day and has a great time.
As far as Mark Taylor is concerned, he is probably right.
Taylor is certainly having fun right now.
He is the toast of a nation after scoring an unbeaten innings of 334 against Pakistan in the second test in Peshawar to equal Sir Donald Bradman's 68-year-old record for the highest individual score by an Australian in test cricket.
That performance and his decision to put his team first by declaring Australia's first innings closed when he had the chance to pass the Don's record earned gushing tributes in his homeland.
Taylor was close to another record when he neared a century in the second innings before being dismissed for 92. Only England's Graham Gooch has scored a triple-century and a century in one test match.
"It's a situation you really dream of, to go into a game and the ball seems really big, your feet are moving very quickly and you're in position very early," the 33-year-old Taylor said Monday.
"These are the times you've got to try and cash in on because there's other times when the ball seems like a marble and everyone's bowling at 100 miles and hour."
Just 18 months ago Taylor was at the bottom of a career-threatening slump in form.
Now there is a five-test home Ashes series looming against traditional rivals England after its current series in Pakistan.
England arrives in Australia on October 23. The first test is in Brisbane from November 20-24.
That match will see Taylor play his 100th test for Australia, joining wicketkeeper Ian Healy and vice-captain Steve Waugh as current players in the Australian team with a century of tests.
"That's something I've been thinking about for the last seven or eight test matches," Taylor said.
"I never thought I'd play this many test matches for Australia. But it's something I suppose that means you've played for a long time and been a resilient character and that would be great."
Taylor said his six-year son William tells friends at his school that his Dad does not work.
"When he's asked at school, he says Dad does nothing, he just plays cricket and has a great time," Taylor said.
"He's probably not far off actually."
Taylor said his performance to equal Bradman's mark was something he would always remember.
"When I got to that figure, I thought 'wow, this is something very, very big, to equal Sir Donald'," he said.
"As I have said a number of times since then, I'm probably not going to be remembered in the same breath as Sir Donald Bradman very often.
"So I thought to finish on 334 will give me a chance to say I'd equaled 'The Don' at something."
Taylor's innings was the 15th triple-century in test history, and his first.
It was also the first in a test match in Pakistan and only the second in a test against them.
Sir Garfield Sobers of the West Indies hit the first triple-century against Pakistan in 1958 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. Sobers scored an unbeaten 365 to overtake the previous best single innings set 20 years earlier by Sir Len Hutton.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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