A "humbled" Ross Taylor says he is looking to do more in the community for both cricket and the Pacific after being recognised in this year's Queen's Birthday Honours.
Taylor was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to cricket and the Pacific community on Monday and told 1News he was surprised by the title.
"It's a huge honour and very humbling to have gotten this recognition," Taylor said.
"I've loved playing for the Black Caps for so many years and you get man of the match awards and things like that but this is definitely up there."
Taylor, who hung up his batting gloves for good earlier this year after a 16-year Black Caps career, said the honour also meant a lot to his family.
"It's a big thing for my family as well to get it for my services to the Pacific community, that's something my mum will be very proud of," he said.
He said now that he was retired he wanted to do more in that space, focusing not on just cricket but "health and wellbeing" as well.
"I've done a lot of things behind the scenes where you don't do it to get recognition but you do it because you can and you want to help," he said.
"You spend so much time on the road playing cricket but now with a bit more time I'll be able to get stuck in and make a contribution in a different way."
The 38-year-old added watching the Black Caps play their first Test at Lord's this past week - the team's first Test since Taylor's retirement - helped reassure him he'd made the right call.
"I didn't miss it as much as I thought I would," he said.
He joked seeing the Black Caps at 2/2 against England on the opening day - a position that in the past would have seen him make an early trip to the crease to try and stabilize the game - also helped him come to the realisation he was in the right place.
"I'd be nervous," he said with a grin.
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