The honourable deed that ensured Mark ‘Tubby’ Taylor became the Don of good sportsmanship

THE honourable call that would forever earn then Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor the respect of the international cricket community and link him with great Sir Don Bradman.

Special occasion: Mark Taylor's The Untold Story charity lunch.

IT was a decision that would forever link then Australian cricket captain Mark Taylor with the incomparable Don Bradman.

Roll back to early morning October 17, 1998 and Taylor, 334 not out at stumps the day before after a marathon 13 hours at the crease in the second Test against Pakistan at Peshawar, finally made the call to retire on that famous mark with the Australian scoreboard reading 4-599.

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It was a score that placed him equal with the great “The Don”, whose 334 flowed from his blade against England 68 years earlier at Headingly ... except that here, in hot, humid Peshawar, Mark Taylor finished his knock undefeated.

When he decided to retire, he realised he was only one run short of becoming Australia’s all-time highest Test scorer and only 42 runs away from eclipsing West Indian Brian Lara’s then world record score of 375.

At the end of play on day two, Taylor’s teammates gathered around him, beckoning him to keep going.

Cricketer Mark Taylor standing in front of scoreboard after making 334 not out in the second Test against Pakistan at Peshawar in 1998.

Prime minister of the day, John Howard, called to congratulate him and hopefully get a break on what he intended to do. The dilemma kept the future 1999 Australian of the Year awake for most of the night.

Then Taylor made the call that would forever earn him the respect of the international cricket community.

Bradman joined in the chorus of praise, writing to Taylor a short time later, declaring: “It was extremely generous of you to declare when our scores were level — a most sportsmanlike act — when you could have easily gone on to take the record for yourself.”

Mark Taylor celebrates a triple century against Pakistan.

Mark Taylor pulls leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed for a four.

The bottom line was that Mark Anthony Taylor made the ultimate call believing it was in the best interests of the team to declare there and then and make every effort to win the Test. On October 17, 20 years to the day, Taylor will use the anniversary of his memorable knock to raise money for Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation, the charity he chairs and helped establish back in his playing days, at a lunch at the Sydney Cricket Ground billed “The Untold Story”.

John Howard, whom Taylor once famously labelled a “cricket tragic” and former teammates Ian Healy and Damien Fleming will be among the speakers.

That Test match will be remembered as well for Taylor’s blitzing 92 in the second innings, giving him a match aggregate of 426, still second to world record-holder Graham Gooch, who scored 456 against India in 1990.

* John Fordham has been Mark Taylor’s manager for the past 24 years and is a member of the Sporting Chance Cancer Foundation board.

For The Untold Story charity lunch details: www.frontrowgroup.com.au

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Originally published as The honourable deed that ensured Mark ‘Tubby’ Taylor became the Don of good sportsmanship