Australian of the Year Awards

Mark Taylor
1999 Award

Mark Taylor was named 1999 Australian of the Year in recognition of his outstanding leadership of the Australian Cricket Team. That year he retired from professional cricket, having led his team to 26 Test victories.

Born is Leeton, NSW in 1964, Mark became involved in cricket at primary school when his family moved to Wagga. He continued playing cricket throughout high school, as well as rugby and Australian Rules football. After high school, he went to University in Sydney, to study surveying. By the second year of his university course, he was selected for the New South Wales cricket squad.

In 1988 Mark made his Test debut with the Australian Cricket Team. The following year in England, Mark proved his talents. He scored 839 runs with a remarkable average of 83.9 runs. His outstanding performances and sportsmanship over the next six years saw him selected as captain of the Australian Cricket Team in 1994.

Towards the end of his career, Mark Taylor scored 334 runs in a single innings - the equal highest Test score by an Australian player. He shared this record with the worlds greatest ever batsman, Sir Donald Bradman. This record-breaking innings was significant for another reason - when Mark has reached 334, he was not out, and could have gone back the next day to attempt to break the record. However, he declared Australia's innings closed, giving the bowlers three more days to try to win the match. In the end, the match was a draw, but Mark had done what only real captains do - he had put his team before personal glory.

As captain he also retained the most important trophy in world cricket, The Ashes, not once, but three times.

He remained captain through 50 Tests. When he retired in 1999 he had been captain for 26 wins, 13 losses and 11 draws.

Other Awards and Honours