Mark Taylor

Mark Taylor is a former Australian cricket player. He was the Australian cricket team captain succeeding the former captain, Allan Border from 1994 through 1999. He was also the Test opening batsman from 1888 through 1999. Mark Anthony Taylor was born on 27 October 1964 in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia. His father, Tony Taylor was a bank manager while his mother was Judy. His family moved to Wagga Wagga when he turned eight years old. He started batting for his primary school and made his debut century when he was just 13 years old. His family moved to the north shore of Sydney. For Sydney Grade Cricket, he joined Northern District.

He completed his secondary education from Chatswood High School and then went to University of New South Wales and got a degree in surveying. He played against Sri Lanka in under 19 youth internationals in 1982-1983. In 1985-1986, he made his debut in Sheffield Shield against South Africa. He opened with another famous Australian cricketer, Mark Waugh. During 1987-88, he did not have a great season. However, during English summer, he helped Greenmount to win Bolton League Title. He scored with an average of 70 with over 1300 runs. His performance during the 1988-89 NSW was commendable, and he got selected for the fourth Test in the Test series against West Indies.

The then coach, Bob Simpson wanted a pair of left and right-handed opening batsmen. At that time, both the right-handed batsmen, David Boon and Geoff Marsh were the opening batsmen. Simpson replaced Boon with Mark Taylor. Taylor being a left-handed batsman came with Marsh, right-handed batsman as the opener. David Boon remained at the in at three down. He scored a total of 1241 runs in the season. His performance in the Test series, got him selected for the Ashes tour in 1989. In his first Ashes test match against England, Taylor scored a century. He scored a total of 839 runs in the season which happens to be the second-best aggregate following Don Bradman who scored 974 runs in the Ashes tour in England.

Taylor has played 104 Test matches in his cricketing career and has made 7,525 runs with 334* being the top score. He played 113 One-Day Internationals with 3517 runs and 105 being the top score. He has played in 253 First Class Cricket with a total of 17,415 runs and 178 List A cricket with 5,463 total runs. Taylor retired in the year 1999. He was named the “Australian of the Year” on the Australian Day. In 2000, he received the Australian Sports Medal, and in 2001, he received the Centenary Medal. He was named to the Sports Australia Hall of Fame in the year 2002. At present, he is a commentator for Channel Nine covering mostly ODI and Test matches. He appears on The Cricket Show hosted by Simon O’Donnell. Mark is a spokesperson for Fujitsu air-conditioners.