One of the things that always irks me when people mention his form slump in 96/97, is how long people remember it to be, it gets a few months longer every year it seems! people bring up some stat that says he didnt score a 50 for 12 months or something,well it was only two test series he didnt perform in- home series vs WI in 96/97 and the 97 tour to SA. Prior to that summer the aussies had the one off test vs India ( does a one of test count as a 'series'?), and the previous home summer was one of his best ever, striking the ball so clean especially against Waqar and Wasim, and scored a stylish 96 at the WACA vs SL, followed by a really fluent 96 world cup where he showed his best ODI form for years, especially vs India and in the final. Form returned in test cricket in 1997 vs England, coming after his two poor series vs WI and SA, and he was back with a bang in the following series vs NZ with 112, and a magnificent 169* vs South Africa and a match winning 102* vs India showed Taylor back to his best, which was confirmed only a few months later with his 334*.
