Taylor, who scored a century and took a five-wicket bag in his debut test in India in 1965, died in Wellington on Saturday. He was 77.
Taylor achieved his remarkable feat in his first test after being drafted into the playing XI at the last moment to replace Barry Sinclair, who had fallen ill.
Having begun the second day unbeaten on 13, and with batting partner Bert Sutcliffe on 74, Taylor adopted a strategy of all-out attack against the home side’s bowling and, by the time Sutcliffe had reached 98, was on 88 himself and closing in on his maiden century.
When he was eventually dismissed for 105, the pair had racked up a record seventh-wicket stand of 163 in 158 minutes.
Taylor then celebrated with the new ball, taking five for 86 as India replied with 380 in what was eventually a draw. Taylor is still the only player in test history to have scored a ton and taken a five-wicket bag on his test debut.
A tall, lean man with long levers, Taylor bowled brisk fast-medium with a high action and was an aggressive batsman, not averse to depositing the ball wide of off-stump high and handsome over the legside.
Taylor played for Canterbury from 1964-65 to 1969-70, and for Wellington from 1970-71 to 1979-80.
He moved to Dunedin in the early 1980s, joining the Kaikorai club. He initially played in the senior team for a couple of seasons, dropped to second grade and then ended up playing third grade in his twilight years.
He was a member of the club’s committee.
He bowled off a couple of paces, still generating plenty of pace, and batted in the middle order, hitting the ball to all corners of the ground.
He was also a selector for Otago for a time and had a hand in selecting the New Zealand squad for the 1992 World Cup.
Later in life, Taylor struggled with health issues, having a leg amputated in 2016 to fight gangrene, and he served a year in jail in 1993-94 after pleading guilty to 22 fraud charges stemming from taking more than $368,000 from John McGlashan College.
