The former New Zealand captain announced his decision on social media early on Friday morning. “It’s official – I’m proud to announce that I’ll be pulling on the blue and representing Samoa in cricket,” Taylor wrote after being named in the Samoan squad for the Asia-East Asia-Pacific qualifiers. “This is more than just a return to the game I love — it’s the huge honour to represent my heritage, culture, villages, and family.”

Taylor is the latest to join the list of cricketers playing for the countries of their parents’ ancestry in recent years. Only a couple of months back, former Australia cricketer Joe Burns made history by leading Italy to their first ever ICC event participation when they cemented one of the two spots in the European Qualifiers for next year’s T20 World Cup. Tim David is another significant name, having taken a giant leap of faith from Singapore to Australia in 2022.

Burns is 35, David is 29. At 41, Taylor is probably one of the oldest cricketers to make a switch of countries. Samoa has very low stakes right now in international cricket, placed 70th in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings. But it wasn’t a decision taken lightly, as Taylor—whose last franchise T20 appearance came in 2023 for the Central Districts in New Zealand’s Super Smash competition—revealed that he felt his playing days were as good as over.

“It’s been a few months in the pipeline, but obviously the team just got announced today,” Taylor was quoted as saying by New Zealand Cricket. “It’s exciting to represent the country of my mother’s birth. I always wanted to give back to the Polynesian community in some sort of way. I always thought it would be more in coaching and other avenues. I never thought I’d play. But as the opportunity arose, getting out there and representing, it’s awesome.”

Switching countries is a fairly modern trend in international cricket even though quite a few cricketers played for Australia and England in the late 19th century due to residential conversions, as did for India and Pakistan in the mid-20th century due to the Partition. The Nawab of Pataudi had been dropped from the England team after he had famously disagreed with Douglas Jardine over his Bodyline tactics. He played for India more than a decade later in 1946. Egypt-born John Traicos made the switch to Zimbabwe in 1983 at the ripe age of 36 because South Africa—for whom he had made his Test debut in 1970—had been internationally isolated because of the Apartheid.

Kepler Wessels, however, was the first prominent player who was still considered to be in his prime (he was 35) when he switched to South Africa from Australia in 1992. In a team full of unknowns, Wessels immediately proved to be the go-to guy for insight and leadership. The only batter to score fifties in both innings against West Indies after South Africa were reintegrated, followed by a hundred in their first Test at home—against India—since their isolation, Wessels was as much a key batter as was he a de facto leader. That is the example and inspiration for modern cricketers like Burns and Taylor to take up this challenge so late in their lives.

Italy’s Burns experiment was a runaway success, adding a new stakeholder to the game that can only spread through the smallest format. Italy’s qualification came as a shock to many but Burns had later said that months of preparation had gone behind their campaign.

Leading by example was his intent, which Burns felt would inspire even more Italians to take up the game. “I think in anything in life, it’s about the impact you can have on others as well, and the opportunity that this team had to create something special for so many people greater than the squad of 15 or the 11 players on the field,” Burns had told the ICC after Italy’s qualification. “We really wanted to create that legacy for future generations.”

For Samoa and Taylor, something similarly exciting could be in the works now.