April 29, 2024
Taylor pens 4-year deal
Zimbabwe cricket captain, Brendan Taylor
By Austin Karonga
RETURNING star batsman and former Zimbabwe cricket captain, Brendan Taylor penned a four-year contract after opting out of his Kolpak deal with English County side, Nottinghamshire, to resuscitate his international career with the senior men’s national team.
The ex-Zimbabwe skipper asked to be released by Nottinghamshire citing family commitments last week and is set to feature in the two-match Test series against West Indies at home next month.
The 31-year-old deserted international cricket for a Kolpak contract with Nottinghamshire in March 2015 in a move that was thought to have effectively ended his international career.
Prior to his resignation he was the team’s leading run scorer with 433 runs at an average of 72,16 scoring two centuries against Ireland and India in Zimbabwe’s last two matches of the 2015 Wold Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Zimbabwe Cricket, chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, confirmed his association had successfully tied down the wicketkeeper batsman on a four-year contract.
“Obviously him having been playing in County cricket it was not easy to convince him for another dance in international cricket. He had a good contract. He was playing well and was enjoying his game but we are glad he had to reconsider and come back to play for Zimbabwe again,” Mukuhlani told The Financial Gazette Sport.
“He signed a four-year contract. You may recall that when the new board was elected into office, we tried to bring back everyone who was willing to play a part in different capacities, be it in administration, coaching. But the issue of players was of top priority and we wanted to make sure that we bring back as many players as possible so that we strengthen our team and be able to compete and post positive results against every other opposition in international cricket,” he said.
Mukuhlani said like every other player, Taylor’s mandate will be to ensure that the team reaches the 2019 World Cup as part of the laid down immediate targets.
“He is that kind of player who can walk into any Test nation team, he brings in a lot of experience and flare; in short he is a quality player and targets are not just for Taylor but every other player has to make sure that we qualify for the World Cup. Of course we need to see the consistency in our results, and most importantly, we would want to build on the success of the Sri Lanka tour going forward,” Mukuhlani said.
The right handed batsman blamed Zimbabwe’s disastrous series against Bangladesh in Asia in November 2016 and the challenges ZC went through in paying players’ salaries and allowances as reasons that pushed him out.
Zimbabwe lost all the matches against Bangladesh under then head coach, Steve Mangongo — a three-match Test series and the 5-match One Day International series on a whitewash.
“To be honest with you, my decision was made before the World Cup in Bangladesh (November 2016). For once, I struggled to enjoy my cricket. I felt we weren’t heading in the right direction as a team and my main outcome of that was to make a decision that would benefit my kids and family as a whole,” Taylor told reporters as he announced his resignation in 2015.
