How much can Ross Taylor afford to reinvent himself during this one-day international series against England?
The question emerges after observations from his last two innings.
He made 48 from as many balls in New Zealand's 454 for eight during the second test against England, followed by 77 off 62
balls in the visitors' 373 for five in the List A match against Leicestershire.
Taylor often comes out to the Labrinth song "Express Yourself" during ODIs. He has lived up to the lyrics over the last week with lucid innings which remind of Taylor Mark I, when the 31-year-old first played for New Zealand in 2006.
A pivotal moment came in the 16th over of the second innings at Headingley when English all-rounder Ben Stokes began his spell. He delivered a long hop which Taylor locked into his batting cross hairs and pulled for six. The fluent movement was perfection to watch. He swiveled into position and landed the missile several rows beyond deep square leg.
The shot rekindled memories of a Taylor innings of two halves which helped beat Pakistan and resurrect New Zealand's 2011 World Cup fortunes.
He played the innings at Pallekele in the Sri Lankan highlands on his 27th birthday. It lasted 124 balls, split into 76 runs from 111 and 55 from 13. That surreal baker's dozen against Shoaib Akhtar and Abdul Razzaq produced four fours and six sixes. Taylor's wagon wheel looked like a leaf rake had been laid between backward square leg and deep mid-wicket.
The execution of his shots was fearless and he earned a reputation as a player strongest through the legside. In subsequent years Taylor proved this was not necessarily the case. Most of his recent innings, particularly in tests, demonstrated the discipline to refrain from trusting his eye and bat to plunder attacks through an onside arc.
Statistics backed that mindset. Since the last England tour two years ago, Taylor's averaged 52.11 in tests and 50.83 in ODIs compared to respective career averages of 44.99 and 41.40. Those numbers are pivotal to New Zealand's current success, but even Taylor must have a compelling urge to unshackle himself on occasion when the capability is there.
"There are two ways of going about things," he said. "You can graft out like I did at Lord's or play shots like I did at Leeds [and Leicestershire]. It was nice to get a few out of the middle and get some rhythm back.
"I've played for a while not scoring as many as I'd like. I'm conscious of the need to express myself and hit it like when I first played for New Zealand."
"His record points to how good he is in this [ODI] form of the game," McCullum added.
"The warm-up innings in Leicester was full of punchy drives and playing off the front and back foot. He's such an integral part of our batting at No.4. The combination between him and Kane has set many games up for us."
However, Taylor's temptation to detonate must surely be rationed? That's a skill in itself when teammates like McCullum, Martin Guptill, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi and now, to a certain degree, Grant Elliott have a licence to tee off in what could become batting's version of the Harlem Globetrotters this series.
If Taylor doesn't apply restraint on occasion, the sole responsibility to knit an innings together when difficult circumstances strike will rest with Kane Williamson. Williamson might have the crease discipline of a sergeant major, but even he suffers the odd unplayable ball early. What then?
