Brendon Taylor’s return big boost for Zim Cricket

Brendon Taylor

THE return of Brendon Taylor — who plays all formats of the game — could be what the doctor ordered at a time Zimbabwe Cricket slumped to a new low, after Pakistan scripted a 5-0 whitewash against the Chevrons in a One Day International (ODI) series last month.
In a lopsided series, Pakistan won two matches by nine wickets and two by more than 200 runs before wrapping up the series in games the visitors set new world records at the hands of the Chevrons.
Pakistan batsman, Imam-ul-Haq smashed his third century of the series, while, Fakhar Zaman became the fastest batsman to complete 1 000 runs in ODIs as Pakistan swept Zimbabwe 5-0 with a 131-run win in the fifth ODI.
Imam hit 110 off 105 balls, and Zaman scored 85 off 83 to reach the 1 000 mark in only his 18th ODI, with Pakistan posting yet another strong total of 364-4 after choosing to bat.
This week, former captain and Zimbabwe’s most consistent player in the past decade, Taylor said he had made himself available for national selection after the International Cricket Council released funds to Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) to ensure outstanding player and staff payments can be made.
He was one of five senior players who sat out of the T20I tri-series involving Australia and Pakistan and the subsequent ODI series against Pakistan because of protracted non-payment.
The four are Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams.
Taylor said he would return if he and other players received their pending dues. He said as a senior player, he felt duty-bound to stand up for the players’ rights, hence his decision to spearhead the formation of a new players’ representative union a move that the union criticised him for.
Tatenda Taibu, former Zimbabwe captain and their convener of selectors until March this year, severely criticised the current administration for their treatment of Taylor and called on cricketers in the country to band together. He also challenged the rest of Zimbabwe players to stand with Taylor and behind the idea of a union.
In a tweet, Taibu said: “What is this? @BrendanTaylor86 tries to do the right thing by helping to set up a players union, which all the other countries have. What do the selectors and ZC do, exclude him from the series. Shame on ZC. Everything that has a beginning has an end.”
Taylor — a standout player, is a right-handed batsman but is also a part-time wicketkeeper and off spinner. His presence and influence is needed to lift Zimbabwe from the embarrassing loss against Pakistan in their home ground.
No cricket team in the world depends on one or two players. The team always plays to win and team work makes the dream work, but with Taylor in the team, the Chevron have always had an upper hand. He is an aggressive batsman, who destroyed and can still destroy the front line bowling attack of any team.
If players decide to follow Taylor’s lead, Zimbabwe could be back to full strength by the time they tour South Africa at the end of next month. They are also slated to tour Bangladesh in October. The two outings are expected to revive the Chevrons status as serious competitors of the game.
“I am very confident that great strides have been taken to resolve the players’ issues. It’s been a long-winded and frustrating time, but the good thing is that we are moving forward and the wheels are in motion,” Taylor said this week.
“It is time to get back to work at the start of August and prepare for the two very big series in South Africa and Bangladesh. I’m looking forward to that and drawing a line in the sand and moving forward,” he said.
The ICC handed ZC a package of measures to help manage their debts, following the governing body’s annual conference in Dublin last month. At the core of the solution is a drip-feed of ICC funds, rather than the usual two lump sums a year, which should lead to more regulated spending by ZC.
Taylor has captained Zimbabwe in ODIs until 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, having taken over the reins from Elton Chigumbura after the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He became the first Zimbabwean batsman to hit back-to-back ODI centuries (128 not out and 107 not out), achieved against New Zealand in October 2011. He repeated the feat again at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Taylor was nurtured by Iain Campbell, the father of Zimbabwean Test cricketer Alistair Campbell, at Lilfordia School near Harare. During his teens, Taylor emerged as a regular choice for national age-group teams and played in two Under-19 World Cups. Taylor holds the record for having scored most number of ODI hundreds for Zimbabwe (10 ODI hundreds) surpassing Alistair Campbell’s seven ODI hundreds.
Taylor scored 310 runs against New Zealand in ODI series in October 2011. This was a world record for most runs in a three-match bilateral ODI series until it was superseded by New Zealand’s Martin Guptill (330 runs) in June 2013 before he was eclipsed by Pakistan’s Babar Azam (360 runs) who set the record last year.