Taylor not happy in N. Zealand set-up

AFP
New Zealand's Ross Taylor (L) and Brendon McCullum in discussion during the final Test against England on March 26, 2013

WELLINGTON (AFP) –

New Zealand’s Ross Taylor (L) and Brendon McCullum in discussion during the final Test against England on March 26, 2013. Taylor, replaced as captain late last year by McCullum, admitted he was not entirely comfortable in the team.

Ex-New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor, replaced as captain late last year, admitted he was not entirely comfortable in the team following a dramatic Test series draw against England.

Taylor also indicated there was more to the way he lost the captaincy to Brendon McCullum than has been revealed.

“I wouldn’t say I’m as comfortable as I would like to be but I guess time will tell,” Taylor told Radio Sport when questioned about the atmosphere inside the New Zealand dressing room.

Taylor would not go into details but said the full story of his demotion may yet be made public.

“There’s a lot of things that have happened. Maybe over the next couple of weeks or months, things might get told but as of now, it’s probably not a great time to talk about it,” he said.

Taylor, who sat out the recent tour of South Africa, praised the performance of his New Zealand team-mates, who came within a whisker of recording a rare Test series win against the powerful England side on Tuesday.

“As one of the senior batters, it’s nice for others to come in and score some runs. Something I haven’t done very much in a New Zealand team is have to wait a couple of sessions to bat. Hopefully I can start getting used to that trend,” he said.

The three-Test series against England ended in three draws, with New Zealand just one wicket away from winning the third Test.

Conflict between Taylor and head coach Mike Hesson has been well documented, with the batsman accusing New Zealand Cricket of lying by saying he was initially asked to stay on as Test captain.

After he scored a century against England in a one-day international last month, the 29-year-old said all was well in the New Zealand camp and he “felt like I never left”.

Taylor, a mainstay of the New Zealand batting line-up, who averages more than 40 in Test cricket, said he was looking forward to the tour of England in May and June.

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