"It was nice to reassess your goals and know you still want to play international cricket, first and foremost that was the best thing. I'm just excited to be here for the summer, in March or April this looked a long way away."
Taylor pencilled in the next one-day World Cup in 2023 as a potential swansong, but that has been postponed by roughly six months. Still, Taylor is intending to play to that point, assuming his body can hold up.
"2023 was going to be a stretch at the best of times," he admits.
"Now the World Cup's been dragged out to October-November '23, another six or seven months to hang around. But you've got to have short-term goals and long-term goals, and that one-day World Cup is definitely on the radar. I might have to trim things back leading into that.
"It doesn't mean I will make it, but that's definitely one of my goals."
New Zealand's all-time leading test run scorer says given his age, the time indoors in 2020 was hugely beneficial, and allowed him to appreciate playing opportunities a bit more.
"Very good for the mind, the body maybe not as good. As you get older you need to keep playing and keep on top of it."
Taylor made his Black Caps debut back in 2006, and has played 433 international matches across all formats. He was the first player in history to reach 100 matches in each format, and is set to break Daniel Vettori's New Zealand record of 442 international games during the summer.
He says his late mentor, New Zealand great Martin Crowe, used to tell him records were meant to be broken.
"I was really happy to play one or two games for New Zealand," Taylor reflected.
"I suppose I've still got to get there."
