Ross Taylor

It's fair to say Ross Taylor is one of New Zealand's all time cricketing greats. He ended his career earlier this year as the all-time best run scorer acro.

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Dressing room "banter" turned inappropriate and there were awkward moments with Black Caps management too.

“What to them is a bit of harmless banter is actually confronting for the targets because it tells them they’re seen as being different. “Let me be clear: I don’t think for one minute that they were coming from a racist perspective. “When I came back into the team after the captaincy drama, I found myself sitting next to (coach) Mike Hesson in the Koru Lounge at Dunedin Airport. He’d come straight from his house. “Cricket in New Zealand is a pretty white sport. It’s easier to develop a thick skin and let it slide, but is that the right thing to do?” “Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity.

In a newly released autobiography, Taylor documents his experience with what he says was racist "banter" and reveals he was afraid to raise his concerns in ...

"What to them is a bit of harmless banter is actually confronting for the targets because it tells them they're seen as being different. "Let me be clear: I don't think for one minute that they were coming from a racist perspective. You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you'll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. That has its challenges, many of which aren't readily apparent to your teammates or the cricketing public." "Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity. A New Zealand Cricket spokesperson told the New Zealand Herald newspaper that the national body "deplores racism, is a staunch supporter of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission's Give Nothing to Racism campaign and is deeply disappointed Ross has been exposed to this type of behaviour."

Blackcaps legend Ross Taylor has revealed he was the victim of racial "insensitivity" during his illustrious career, saying comments about his ethnic ...

It's fair to say Ross Taylor is one of New Zealand's all time cricketing greats. He ended his career earlier this year as the all-time best run scorer acro.

- Author - Newstalk ZB, - Author

Former Black Caps batter Ross Taylor has revealed he was offended by race-based remarks in New Zealand dressing rooms and said the country's cricket board ...

"But he's hearing it as white person, and it's not directed at people like him. "Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity. "It's easier to develop a thick skin and let it slide, but is that the right thing to do?"

Ross Taylor, who is of Samoan heritage, describes racist locker room "banter" and casually racist comments from some New Zealand team officials.

It’s easier to develop a thick skin and let it slide, but is that the right thing to do?” Taylor said a former manager and coach of the New Zealand team made comments that were unintentionally racist. “What to them is a bit of harmless banter is actually confronting for the targets because it tells them they’re seen as being different. “Let me be clear: I don’t think for one minute that they were coming from a racist perspective. “Cricket in New Zealand is a pretty white sport,” Taylor writes in his book, entitled “Black & White.” “For much of my career I’ve been an anomaly, a brown face in a vanilla line-up. You don’t know what I’m referring to.’ I was pretty sure I did.” He said other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity. You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you’ll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism.

"For much of my career I've been an anomaly, a brown face in a vanilla line-up," says the former batter in his new autobiography.

For much of my career I've been an anomaly, a brown face in a vanilla line-up," Taylor wrote in an extract published by the New Zealand Herald. "That has its challenges, many of which aren't readily apparent to your team-mates or the cricketing public. We'll definitely reach out to Ross to discuss the matter." "Cricket in New Zealand is a pretty white sport.

Black Caps great speaks out about Brendon McCullum, Mike Hesson, David White and others in an explosive new book.

Buchanan arrived in Sri Lanka and told Taylor he was going to recommend he stay on as captain. Just before a meeting with White, Taylor said “Brendon called to say I should take the test captaincy. “By the end of his stint, we got along OK’’. A beautiful mind crunching all the player stats. “Brendon also sought and obtained an injunction to prevent publication of his email exchange... There are leaders and there are followers, and I think you are a follower’. There are senior players in the team who don’t want you as captain. You need journalists close enough to smell the liniment. “I focused on my job, scoring runs, ticking off the goals Hogan [mentor Martin Crowe] had set for me. “I’d kicked a rubbish bin outside a dressing room, sending rubbish everywhere, so fair enough to pull me up on that. I don’t want the captaincy…’’ He said we’d meet that afternoon.’’ I figured they’d go even more rogue if he was left out.’’

Former Black Caps captain Ross Taylor says he is proud of the way he reacted after he was sacked as captain in 2012.

"At the end of the day, they made a call and I was collateral damage. "I think we've moved on a long way but New Zealand is a changing dynamic and demographic from when I first started out... "I am black and white... "There was method in that, they wanted to ambush me for me not to make their job harder. During the process, Taylor came to grips with his own strengths, doubts and weaknesses. What person would stay on when their coach has said that?"

Black Caps great Ross Taylor says he has experienced racism in New Zealand cricket. In his autobiography Black and White, which is released today, the Kiwi- ...

"In all probability, a Pākehā listening to those sorts of comments would think, 'Oh, that's okay, it's just a bit of banter.' But he's hearing it as a white person and it's not directed at people like him. "A teammate used to tell me, 'You're half a good guy, Ross, but which half is good? "You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you'll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity," Taylor wrote. Taylor added: "You are subject to it at different stages. "I'd hope that one of the takeaways from my career is that good cricketers can emerge from a Polynesian background."

Ross Taylor has revealed he was offended by race-based remarks from team-mates and staff in New Zealand dressing rooms during his 16-year career, ...

"Let me be clear: I don't think for one minute that they were coming from a racist perspective," he said. "But he's hearing it as white person, and it's not directed at people like him. "Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity.

Recently retired Test batter Ross Taylor has said in an autobiography that he experienced racism during his 16-year career in New Zealand cricket.

“In all probability a [white New Zealander] listening to those sorts of comments would think ‘Oh, that’s OK, it’s just a bit of banter’,” Taylor said. “A teammate used to tell me ‘you’re half a good guy Ross but which half is good? That has its challenges, many of which aren’t readily apparent to your teammates or the cricketing public.”

Cricket great says he edited out sections from his new book involving current players because 'I didn't want it to compromise them'.

“What to them is a bit of harmless banter is actually confronting for the targets because it tells them they’re seen as being different. “Cricket in New Zealand is a pretty white sport. “Let me be clear: I don’t think for one minute that they were coming from a racist perspective. “When I came back into the team after the captaincy drama, I found myself sitting next to (coach) Mike Hesson in the Koru Lounge at Dunedin Airport. He’d come straight from his house. You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you’ll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. “Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity.

New Zealand cricket great Ross Taylor has revealed that current Black Caps players made racially insensitive comments towards him.

"You wonder if you should pull them up but worry that you'll create a bigger problem or be accused of playing the race card by inflating harmless banter into racism. "In all probability, a Pākehā listening to those sorts of comments would think, 'Oh, that's okay, it's just a bit of banter.' But he's hearing it as a white person and it's not directed at people like him. "A teammate used to tell me, 'You're half a good guy, Ross, but which half is good? Other players also had to put up with comments that dwelt on their ethnicity," Taylor wrote. Taylor added: "You are subject to it at different stages. "I didn't want it to detract from a lot of the other good stories that are out there," he told Sky Sport on Thursday.

During his playing days, Ross Taylor was famously careful with his words. Now he's retired, he's telling his story, and, as he tells Greg Bruce, ...

"I hope someone, like a kid who wants to be a cricketer, will read it and go, 'These are some of the feelings that I have, they're natural in this game of cricket. "I haven't missed it," he says. Regarding his relationship with McCullum, he said, "If only he lived up to his own policies, we would have been fine." To which Williamson replied, "I was just asking to initiate a conversation, because I feel like I'm going to get out every ball." When he returned to the team after the South African tour, he says, he "just got on with it. When Taylor reminded Stead he'd been named the country's T20 player of the year only a few months earlier, Stead replied, "We don't pick the player of the year." In that same match, Black Caps opening batter Jamie How, who was also in the early stages of his career, was out just short of a hundred: "Say he got 120, he might have been away," Taylor said. When Williamson asked Taylor how he was feeling, Taylor said, "Well, not great, but I'm trying to hang in there." After returning from Sri Lanka, Taylor received medical advice that he shouldn't go on the subsequent tour to South Africa. He was hardly sleeping and his weight had dropped to the lowest it had been since he was 14. To some extent, that century made the rest of his long and illustrious test career possible: "You feel like you belong," he said. He said: "I've never been able to tell my side of the story. It helped his team win the game and was crucial in the context of a career that was, until then, seen as not well suited to the test format, even by him.