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Time to Declare
Time to Declare tells with unflinching candour Mark Taylor's story in a fascinating and revealing autobiography. Taking block, Taylor throws new light on the highs and lows, the controversies and the triumphs of a truly remarkable sporting career. By the end of his journey, which included 104 Tests for his country, 7525 runs, and 157 catches, he stood acclaimed as the 'second most important person in the land'. At the close of Australia's century there can be no finer story of grit and perseverance and inspiration than that of Mark Taylor – captain of his country.
269 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 11, 2023
Cricket it seems, more than most other sports, lends itself to the written word. In my opinion there are many reasons for this - the time it takes, the breaks in play that lead to deeper thought on what has occurred and what may be about to occur, the way cricket today can reflect back to past cricketing events, and not forgetting the endless statistical delight that the game gives us.
So we come to the autobiography of the man who I feel has been the best Australian captain of the last fifty years. As a leader he was always optimistic and supportive of his team-mates, but it was as a tactician that he shone. Taylor rarely miss-stepped as captain, and he quite often made changes in the field that turned out to be inspired. This, added to his steady batting and brilliant slips fielding make him one of Australia's best cricketers of his generation.
Unfortunately, in Time to Declare, Taylor has not chosen to discuss in any great depth his tactical decisions, or how he managed the team. This is more of a "traditional" cricketer's book, listing anecdotes, family life, and personal milestones. Taylor does weigh in on some controversies, particularly throwing and whether Australia should have separate captains for different forms of cricket: hot-button issues when he wrote this book, but somewhat old-hat now (although his opinions are interesting nonetheless).
For those of us who have seen and heard Taylor commentate, Time to Declare will hold no surprises. He is a straightforward type of man who says what he thinks. He was an aggressive captain, in the sense that he was always striving for the win, but never seemed an aggressive player. Some of the episodes he relates from his early cricketing life are about his aggressiveness, and learning how to temper that so that it became a productive force for him. There are several occasions in the book where he shows some understanding and forgiveness for the excesses of some of his younger team-mates (Ponting and Warne in particular), and explains clearly how difficult it can be to live the life of a professional sportsman.
What we don't get is very much explanation of his thinking as captain, or even as a batsman. We get the stories, but not the thinking behind them. That's a shame. I do wonder if that might be a product of Taylor writing this book in the six months immediately after his retirement: perhaps a longer period of reflection may have given us a book with more heft.
As it is, Time to Declare is pretty much another run-of-the-mill cricket book, which is not without its interest and nostalgia.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
So we come to the autobiography of the man who I feel has been the best Australian captain of the last fifty years. As a leader he was always optimistic and supportive of his team-mates, but it was as a tactician that he shone. Taylor rarely miss-stepped as captain, and he quite often made changes in the field that turned out to be inspired. This, added to his steady batting and brilliant slips fielding make him one of Australia's best cricketers of his generation.
Unfortunately, in Time to Declare, Taylor has not chosen to discuss in any great depth his tactical decisions, or how he managed the team. This is more of a "traditional" cricketer's book, listing anecdotes, family life, and personal milestones. Taylor does weigh in on some controversies, particularly throwing and whether Australia should have separate captains for different forms of cricket: hot-button issues when he wrote this book, but somewhat old-hat now (although his opinions are interesting nonetheless).
For those of us who have seen and heard Taylor commentate, Time to Declare will hold no surprises. He is a straightforward type of man who says what he thinks. He was an aggressive captain, in the sense that he was always striving for the win, but never seemed an aggressive player. Some of the episodes he relates from his early cricketing life are about his aggressiveness, and learning how to temper that so that it became a productive force for him. There are several occasions in the book where he shows some understanding and forgiveness for the excesses of some of his younger team-mates (Ponting and Warne in particular), and explains clearly how difficult it can be to live the life of a professional sportsman.
What we don't get is very much explanation of his thinking as captain, or even as a batsman. We get the stories, but not the thinking behind them. That's a shame. I do wonder if that might be a product of Taylor writing this book in the six months immediately after his retirement: perhaps a longer period of reflection may have given us a book with more heft.
As it is, Time to Declare is pretty much another run-of-the-mill cricket book, which is not without its interest and nostalgia.
Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/
March 11, 2017
I read this after reading Pleasure and Pain, and the contrast between both these Australians,in lives lived, and the way the stories were told, could not have been more stark. Time to Declare is a run-of-the-mill sports autobiography which cricket fans, like myself, will enjoy.
It's easy to read, conversational in style and is at times engaging and amusing. Captain of the Australian cricket team is the number 2 job in the country, after the Prime Minister, so anyone who has the distinction of filling that position for any period of time, let alone someone as successful as Taylor, deserves an audience. I liked Mark Taylor as a cricketer, and I like him as a commentator. What's not to like?
A country boy from humble beginnings with a love for a game, and more than a bit of talent, not only gets to represent his country but captain it. I particularly enjoyed reading his wife's comments on their relationship and the pressure which naturally, albeit unfortunately falls on the wife and family of such a high profile sportsman. I also really liked reading his thoughts on the 'two captain' policy of which he was the first victim.
It's easy to read, conversational in style and is at times engaging and amusing. Captain of the Australian cricket team is the number 2 job in the country, after the Prime Minister, so anyone who has the distinction of filling that position for any period of time, let alone someone as successful as Taylor, deserves an audience. I liked Mark Taylor as a cricketer, and I like him as a commentator. What's not to like?
A country boy from humble beginnings with a love for a game, and more than a bit of talent, not only gets to represent his country but captain it. I particularly enjoyed reading his wife's comments on their relationship and the pressure which naturally, albeit unfortunately falls on the wife and family of such a high profile sportsman. I also really liked reading his thoughts on the 'two captain' policy of which he was the first victim.
January 25, 2021
Good one time read. 3 stars.
I picked up this book because I am a big fan of Mark Taylor's captaincy. My interest was purely to know Taylor's thinking, his decision-making style and behind-the-scene incidents. I followed the Aussie team religiously during the 90s and was in awe of their successes, the way they played and Taylor's captaincy. Taylor's book doesn't reveal much about his captaincy beliefs or his man management skills but brings back those nostalgic days when Aussies always managed to pull a rabbit out of their bag whenever the chips where down. I didn't realize Taylor captaincy tenure was filled with contraversial incidents like Salim Malik incident, Warne/Waugh incident, Mutthaiya's chucking, forfeiting a world cup match - quite an adventure. I liked this book primarily because it brought back sweet memories of those days. A good one time read for Taylor's fan. 3 stars.
I picked up this book because I am a big fan of Mark Taylor's captaincy. My interest was purely to know Taylor's thinking, his decision-making style and behind-the-scene incidents. I followed the Aussie team religiously during the 90s and was in awe of their successes, the way they played and Taylor's captaincy. Taylor's book doesn't reveal much about his captaincy beliefs or his man management skills but brings back those nostalgic days when Aussies always managed to pull a rabbit out of their bag whenever the chips where down. I didn't realize Taylor captaincy tenure was filled with contraversial incidents like Salim Malik incident, Warne/Waugh incident, Mutthaiya's chucking, forfeiting a world cup match - quite an adventure. I liked this book primarily because it brought back sweet memories of those days. A good one time read for Taylor's fan. 3 stars.
January 11, 2010
The story of how Mark Taylor went from a young boy in Wagga Wagga, to the cricketer that everyone thought had been picked for Australia when he in fact hadn't (the player chosen was Peter Taylor, who is no relation), becoming Australian captain, being dropped from the One Day side and suffering a terrible run of bad form in the test arena that almost ended his career before a fighting century in England and going on to equal Don Bradman's highest score by an Australian Batsman, famously declaring on 334 not out. This is a great read for all cricket fans.
October 15, 2013
A bit of a disappointment on the captaincy side of things. Mark Taylor was pretty much the most astute modern captain and expected him to write a bit more about that aspect.
March 18, 2016
Quite an honest autobiography but perhaps too long, with accounts of every Test match played, and some repetition. Avoids a controversial approach to some of the events of the 1990's decade
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews