Peter Laurence Taylor (born 22 August 1956) is a former Australian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played in 13 Test matches and 83

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s between 1987 and 1992. He became a Test match selector for Australia in the late 1990s.

Domestic career

His initial selection for Australia in 1986–87 came after only a handful of games for

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was a huge shock. It was initially thought that his more known New South Wales colleague Mark Taylor had been selected. He was dubbed ''Peter Who''? by the media. Taylor played for New South Wales in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

between 1985 and 1990 and played two seasons for

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(1990–92)

International career

He justified his selection with a stunning 6/78 on debut against

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at Sydney. He however was unable to repeat such a feat again in his test career (12 more matches between 1987 and 1992). However Taylor became the staple spin-bowler of the Australian One Day team of the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was able to bowl his off-spin with economy and pick up vital wickets in matches. He was also a good fielder and an able lower order batsman. He played 83 times taking 97 wickets between 1987 and 1992, appearing in both the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

and the 1992 World Cups. Taylor was noted for his deliberate approach to the wicket and the rhythmical nature of his bowling action that involved him first swinging his bowling arm, joining hands as he swung forwards then completing a loop of his joined hands before delivering the ball. He was noted as a heavy spinner of a cricket ball and comparisons were made with

Ashley Mallett Ashley Alexander Mallett (13 July 1945 – 29 October 2021) was an Australian cricketer who played in 38 Tests and 9 One Day Internationals between 1968 and 1980. Until Nathan Lyon, he was Australia's most successful off spin bowler since World ...

, also a former Australian spin bowler.

References

Notes

External links

Ashes One-hit wonders – ''The Guardian'' 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Peter Australian cricketers 1956 births Living people Australia Test cricketers Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut Australia One Day International cricketers Cricketers at the 1987 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1992 Cricket World Cup New South Wales cricketers Queensland cricketers People educated at Barker College