In a fairly surprising move, former New Zealand cricketer and one of their most established batters, Ross Taylor, has decided to come out of his retirement from international cricket at the age of 41 to represent another national — Samoa. Taylor is set to play for Samoa in the upcoming Asia-East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier in Oman for a shot to seal a berth in the tournament set to be played in India and Sri Lanka next year.
Taylor confirmed this development on Thursday, announcing his arrival on social media. “Coming out of retirement,” he wrote on Instagram.
“It’s official – I’m proud to announce that I’ll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket. This is more than just a return to the game I love — it’s the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family. I’m excited for the opportunity to give back to the game, join the squad, and share my experience on and off the field. Time to get back out there – #685 to the world! CHEEEHOOO!,” he added.
Taylor has been named in Samoa’s squad for the Asia-East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup 2026 Qualifier, with the tournament set to begin on October 8, 2025.
“I’m excited. It’s been a few months in the pipeline, but obviously the team just got announced today, so I had to make it. Exciting to represent the country of my mother’s birth. I think I always wanted to give back to the Polynesian community in some sort of way, and I always thought it would be more in coaching and other avenues. I never thought I’d play, but as the opportunity arose, yeah, looking forward to getting out there and hopefully representing and doing my best for Samoa,” said Taylor, expressing his announcement to represent Samoa.
Veteran
A veteran of 112 Tests, 236 ODIs and 102 T20Is for New Zealand, Taylor scored more than 18,000 runs across all formats of the game, including 1909 at a strike rate of 122.37 in his T20I career. He holds a Samoan passport through his mother’s heritage. He became eligible for his second national team after a three-year standout period following his last game for New Zealand in April 2022.
The 41-year-old spoke about his preparation for the Qualifier tournament. “I obviously haven’t played a lot of cricket like we used to, so it’d be a bit of a shock to the system, but played in some tournaments, so it’s not as if I’ve gone three or four years without having played,” he said. “But, yeah, need to get up to speed as quick as I can, but that was the other thing that was nice to be able to do, you know, train for a month or so, a couple of months, just to see how the body reacted and hopefully, you know, not what it used to be at 41, but hopefully it’s good enough,” added Taylor.
