KEY POINTS:
HOBART - Nearly a year ago Ross Taylor saw plenty of Bellerive Oval's cricket pitch, and a little too much of the local hospital too.
That tri-series experience summed up Taylor's turbulent first full year in New Zealand colours, as he eyes one final lunge at the Australian
bowlers in tomorrow's Chappell-Hadlee Trophy decider here.
In just his eighth one-day international last January, Taylor delighted the commentators and flayed Australia's attack in a losing cause at Bellerive, 84 off 82 balls.
Then the scary part happened as he cramped up in his legs, was ferried to hospital and put on an intravenous drip, not knowing how bad his health was.
"It was a high and low. First bat against Australia, scoring 80 but at the same time it was quite scary not knowing what was wrong with my body," he said.
Nerves, which ruined his appetite at breakfast, were seen as the big contributor.
Now he has his diet and training regimen on song and feels as healthy as ever, and the cramps haven't resurfaced.
It's just a matter of translating it into runs, and more time in the middle to actually test his body.
Taylor went from the tri-series to the Chappell-Hadlee series in New Zealand, hammering an Australian attack including Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath and Shaun Tait all over Eden Park for a whirlwind 117. It was the big score that showed him he belonged.
"That hundred reinforced that I was good enough to play at this level and being in a winning team, playing against a really good team was very special."
But things tailed off a fraction since, through the World Cup and the South African tour.
"It's been a big learning curve, there have been ups and downs. I've had a few more downs than I would have liked but you learn form that.
"I want to be a more consistent in the next few games."
Then there was the catching dramas.
He'd usually back himself to catch 99 out of 100, but the regular dropsies set in late in the tri-series last summer.
Since arriving in Australia, three catches in the Twenty20 match in Perth and the key grab to remove Adam Gilchrist in Adelaide restored his confidence.
"It is surprising after you drop a couple of catches how your confidence does go down, but I worked hard on and I've got one and I'm back on the horse."
His batting resurgence started with a timely 50 in Adelaide last Friday, when a few friendly full tosses from Brad Hogg got him underway after a run of scores in South Africa of 20, 13 not out and three.
He kicked himself for not carrying on, dismissed when he skied Brett Lee to mid-off in the 41st over at 197 for four with New Zealand well set for a late charge.
"Australia are such a good team they smell fear. It was a situation I was in the same time last year but I played a reckless shot this year and I'll learn from that."
He was poised to try and make amends in Sydney on Sunday but rain intervened when he was on five and New Zealand 30 for three.
Much has been made in Australia of Lee and Tait's psychological hold over the New Zealand top order but Taylor said mentally they remained strong.
"Lee, Tait and Bracken bowled very well. A few low scores doesn't make you bad players but a few batsmen are in some pretty good form and others aren't. We are all fired up for this last match."
- NZPA
