The first round of the Cricket North season hasn't always been so kind to Launceston skipper Alistair Taylor.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Not playing the past two opening clashes due to Greater Northern Raiders duties, he last fell for a golden duck to Riverside's Lyndon Stubbs in 2017.
But much to the Blues' dismay, his 2020 season opener wasn't the same.
Taylor and club debutant James Lee stepped up at 4-61 and put on 94 runs for the fifth wicket before the skipper was dismissed for 72 off 101 balls to be named Cricket North's player of the round.
"I was very pleased, I probably average five in the first round of the year normally so it's always nice to get some runs early in the year to get some confidence," he said.
"I was pretty nervous because obviously I don't do well in the first round normally and he [Lee] would have been a bit nervous as well being his first game for Launceston, so to get in a good partnership with him was really nice."
Despite Taylor's far-from-perfect round one record, he has been a pillar of the Lions' batting lineup in previous years.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
The last three seasons have seem the former coach pile on seasons of 448 at an average of 37.33, 399 at 99.75 before compiling 520 runs at 47.27 as the Lions squeezed into finals last year.
His form has not just been limited to one-day or two-day cricket, with Taylor smacking 223 runs in the previous two T20 seasons including a bat-raising performance against George Town in 2018.
"I've been seeing the ball alright the last couple of years I think so it was nice to get some early. I had a pretty big pre-season around a lot of good coaches now I'm in the ring at Cricket Tas.
"There's been a few technical changes but I think it's for the better again so I'm not afraid of changing things each year or midway through a game or something like that - it just depends on the situation.
"The last couple of years things have worked but now it's just tinkering to get better I suppose - that's what you've got to do."