Emotional Taylor credits Martin Crowe after scaling Test record

In one of the few bright spots, as his team slipped to a 279-run defeat to Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground and lost the series 3-0, Taylor went past Stephen Fleming’s career tally of 7,172 runs during his 22 on Monday, 6 January.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Taylor spoke of how he had always believed in himself as a white-ball batsman, and how Crowe helped him see past that to become a serious Test batsman. "My goal was to play one Test match,” he said. “I guess it's an emotional time because my mentor Martin Crowe, that was one of the goals he put down for me was to be New Zealand's highest Test run-scorer. To be honest, I didn't believe him, but I'd have loved for him to be here and help celebrate.

"When I first played for New Zealand, I'd had a pretty decent one-day career and only scored three or four first-class hundreds and Twenty20 was just coming through.

"I always thought I was good enough to play one-day cricket, but Test cricket was something I was never quite sure if I was good enough. That's why I'd seek Martin's help to become a better player than the raw, gay abandon player that I was as a youngster."

At 35, Taylor is closer to the end of his career than he is to its beginning, but he believes he still has much value to add to the New Zealand outfit by imparting the wisdom he has gained from his years of experience.

"I still feel I'm good enough to play at this level and feel like I've still got something to offer the team and New Zealand Cricket and the youngsters coming through,” he said. "I don't want to just hang on to just play cricket I still want to feel I earn the right in this side and am still good enough to play.”

As for his aspirations, Taylor wished to see his record broken and for the next generation to set the bar even higher for New Zealand cricket. "Records are meant to be broken,” he said, “and, hopefully, I can give Kane [Williamson] something to chase and then he can set the bar high for the next person to come along."