Ross Taylor shares curious tale about ‘duck’ saga in his autobiography

Just a day after Ross Taylor’s revelation regarding racism in New Zealand cricket went viral, another of his stories is doing the rounds on social media. Thankfully, nothing to do with racism this time. This time, the Kiwi legend in his autobiography recalled incidents of getting out on zero after having ducks before the match.

Taylor recalled him having a duck the night before his ODI World Cup debut against England in 2007. Later, the Kiwi legend was dismissed for 0 on the next day. Liam Plunkett took his wicket on the very first ball he faced and then decided to never have a duck before a match.

“The night before my first ever World Cup Game — against England in Saint Lucia in 2007 — Victoria and I went to a Chinese restaurant. I had crispy aromatic duck, one of my favourite meals. Liam Plunkett bowled me a fullish outswinger first ball; I went for the big cover drive, nicked it and Andrew Flintoff took a one-handed diving catch. Rule number one: don’t have duck the night before a game,” Taylor said. 

He had to be rescued by hotel staff: Taylor recalled a story concerning Andrew Flintoff

On the very same night when Taylor was out on zero, Andrew Flintoff had to go through a horrible experience. The former English all-rounder was also dismissed for a golden duck. Later in the day, Flintoff decided to have a nightcap with Ian Botham. He was later rescued by the hotel staff and he woke up when coach Duncan Fletcher was pounding on the door the next morning.

“Mind you, Freddie had an even worse day than I did: he also got a golden duck, didn’t take a wicket and England got hammered. About 1.30 am, he decided it would be a good idea to have a nightcap with Ian Botham, who was staying on a boat out in the bay. Freddie commandeered a pedalo, put to sea and had to be rescued by hotel staff. He woke up the next morning, still wet and with sand between his toes, to the sound of his irate coach, Duncan Fletcher, pounding on the door,” Taylor mentioned in his autobiography.

He recalled another incident of having duck before and getting out in the match. “Years later, we went to a dégustation dinner that included duck. I said I couldn’t have the duck because I was playing in two days’ time. Our friends persuaded me the rule only applied when I was playing the next day. So, I had some duck and, sure enough, two days later I got a golden (first-ball duck).” he said to conclude the duck saga of his life.