Taylor says quiet apology to late Crowe after record-breaking knock

After finally moving past Martin Crowe by scoring his 18th Test century, New Zealand's Ross Taylor was relieved but also apologetic.

Ross Taylor celebrating his hundred against Bangladesh in an understated manner.

Ross Taylor said a quiet apology to the late Martin Crowe after surpassing his record for Test hundreds by a New Zealand batsman.

Taylor scored his first century in the longest format since December 2017 on day four of the second Test against Bangladesh at Basin Reserve to finally take his overall total to 18.

The 35-year-old celebrated in an understated fashion despite the milestone set by former Black Caps skipper Crowe, who died in March 2016, having affected him mentally.

"I guess 17 was such a big number since when I started playing cricket, that when I got there it was probably a little bit of a relief," said Taylor after going on to record his third double-hundred in Tests.

"Then I didn't kick on – it was probably a little bit in my subconscious, and I must admit it played on my mind for a little bit as well.

"Before this [Test] I talked to our sports psychologist Pete [Sanford], and just acknowledged that it's always going to be there. It's nice now to knock it off.

"I just told [Crowe] my apologies for taking so long to get there."