Like Brendon McCullum, the man he played alongside so often and shared the odd spot of controversy with, Ross Taylor will draw the curtain on his Test career at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval.
He’s doubtful, however, he’ll finish in such explosive fashion.
McCullum smashed 145 off just 79 balls in the first innings of NZ’s seven-wicket defeat by Australia in 2016, a jaw-dropping end to his career.
At Friday’s news conference ahead of New Zealand’s must-win second Test against Bangladesh, Taylor was asked if he would be following in McCullum’s footsteps.
“He set the bar very high, jeepers,” Taylor said with a grin.
“It would be good to have a win and get our first win of the summer under our belt, in terms of Baz-esque, he’s got that down pat for a while, I don’t think there’s going to be many people who are going to be able to do what he did in his last match.”
A series defeat to Bangladesh would not be the way Taylor planned on ending his international career, meaning a win rather than individual milestones take priority for the 37-year-old.
Read more: Going from slogger to Test champion is my greatest feat – Taylor
With limited-overs matches still to come, and a series on the line, he says he hasn’t given real thought to this being his 112th and final Test.
“It hasn’t really dawned on me yet. When you’ve still got one-dayers to go, if it was my last game full stop it definitely might feel a little bit different.
“But also the context of the series, we’re one-nil down with all to play. I still think we’re learning how to play in the Mount, but we want to expect a lot more here. It’s going to have bounce and carry the whole time, and there’s going to be a lot of grass on it.
“It’s conditions that us batters are used too, and I’m sure our bowlers are as well.”
The second and final Test begins on Sunday.
Bangladesh won the first match by eight wickets – their first Test win over New Zealand.
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