Peter Taylor (cricketer)

• For other people named Peter Taylor, see Peter Taylor.

Peter Laurence Taylor (born 22 August 1956 in North Sydney, New South Wales) is a former Australian cricketer who played in 13 Tests and 83 ODIs from 1987 to 1992.

His initial selection for Australia in 1986-1987 after only a handful of games for NSW was a huge shock. It was initially thought that his more known New South Wales colleague Mark Taylor was selected. He was dubbed Peter Who? by the media. He justified his selectors with a stunning 6/78 on debut against England at Sydney.^[1] He however was unable to repeat such a feat again in his test career (12 more matches between 1987 and 1992).

However Taylor became the staple spin-bowler of the Australian One Day team of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was able to bowl his off-spin with economy and pick up vital wickets in matches. He was also a good fielder and an able lower order batsman. He played 83 times taking 97 wickets between 1987 and 1992, appearing in both the 1987 and the 1992 World Cups.

Taylor played for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield between 1985 and 1990 and played two seasons for Queensland (1990–92)

Taylor was noted for his deliberate approach to the wicket and the rhythmical nature of his bowling action that involved him first swinging his bowling arm, joining hands as he swung forwards then completing a loop of his joined hands before delivering the ball. He was noted as a heavy spinner of a cricket ball and comparisons were made with Ashley Mallett, the former Australian spin bowler.

He became a Test match selector for Australia in the late 1990s.

Since then Peter has had two children, Sally and Charlie, with Charlie 'chuck' Taylor showing promising signs of following in his father's footsteps having made a strong start to grade cricket in NSW with Northern Districts. Charlie is a spinner who, like his father, is not to shabby with the bat. Chuckie T has been compared to the greats such as Nathan 'Gaz' Lyon, with constant dismissals against Scott Long on Polding 2. The future looks bright for this young Moree 'bred' cricketer

Peter Taylor's Test career batting performance.

References

Notes

• Benaud, Richie (1991). Border & Co: A Tribute To Cricket's World Champions. Hamlyn Australia. ISBN 0-947334-31-9. 

External links

• Ashes One-hit wonders - The Guardian 2005

Australia squads
Australia squad – 1987 Cricket World Cup (1st title) 1 Border (c) 2 Boon 3 Dyer (wk) 4 Jones 5 Marsh 6 May 7 McDermott 8 Moody 9 O'Donnell 10 Reid 11 Taylor 12 Veletta 13 Waugh 14 Zesers Australia squad – 1992 Cricket World Cup 1 Border (c) 2 Boon 3 Healy (wk) 4 Hughes 5 Jones 6 Marsh 7 McDermott 8 Moody 9 Reid 10 M. Taylor 11 P. Taylor 12 M. Waugh 13 S. Waugh 14 Whitney

New South Wales squad – 1985-86 Sheffield Shield Competition
1 Murray Bennett 2 P Blizzard 3 RJ Bower 4 Peter Clifford 5 Greg Dyer 6 Dave Gilbert 7 Bob Holland 8 Geoff Lawson 9 Greg Matthews 10 Mark O'Neill 11 W Seabrook 12 Steve Small 13 Mark Taylor 14 Peter Taylor 15 Mark Waugh 16 Steve Waugh 17 Dirk Wellham (c) 18 Mike Whitney