Brendan Taylor

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Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (born 6 February 1986) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain who plays in all formats of the game.

Taylor is a right-handed batsman, but he is also a part-time wicketkeeper and off spinner.

Former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell characterized Taylor as "our standout player for the last seven to eight years" in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, having taken over the reins from Elton Chigumbura following the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

He was the first Zimbabwean batsman to reach back-to-back One-Day International centuries (128 not out and 107 not out), despite defeating New Zealand in October 2011.

At the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, he repeated the feat.

In December 2011, he was selected to play Twenty20 cricket for the Wellington cricket team as an overseas player in New Zealand's HRV Twenty20 Cup.

In any World Cup, his 433 runs at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup set a new record for Zimbabwe.

His ten centuries in ODIs is also a Zimbabwe record beating Alistair Campbell's 7. Taylor left his national team soon after the 2015 World Cup, but he resigned with Nottinghamshire on September 14, 2017, returning home to Zimbabwe.

Taylor was forced to return home and play for Zimbabwe for personal reasons in November 2018. Taylor was the first Zimbabwe batsman to score over a century in each innings in a Test on two separate occasions.

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International career

At Lilfordia School near Harare, Taylor was nurtured by Iain Campbell, the father of Zimbabwean Test cricketer Alistair Campbell. Taylor made a name for himself in national age groups and competed in two Under-19 World Cups as a teen, where he attended St. John's College (Harare). At the age of 15, he made his first-class debut for Mashonaland A. He came to fame in the Logan Cup's B Division by scoring 200 not out. Taylor was forced into the national team against Sri Lanka in 2003–04 owing to his solid domestic results and a mass exodus of top-level players. On his ODI and international debut against Sri Lanka on April 20th, 2004 at Bulawayo ad opened the cricket alongside Vusi Sibanda, but he was off to a rocky start to his international career after being bowled clean by Chaminda Vata for duck on his debut. In a losing cause, he made his test debut against Sri Lanka on May 2021.

Taylor made his Zimbabwe debut in a period when many of the country's top players revolted against Zimbabwe Cricket (formally known as the Zimbabwean Cricket Union) and made themselves unavailable to represent the team. As a result, several young players were accepted early in the squad, which weakened the team, particularly at Test time. Taylor was one of the youngest and most promising in the lot. Despite not having signed a new deal, he was chosen in the national team in 2006. Following Tatenda Taibu's temporary departure, he soon assumed wicketkeeping duties as well. Since his 60 not out helped Zimbabwe gain a five-wicket victory over Australia in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, he shot to international prominence.

Taylor was re-selected for the Zimbabwe Select team against South Africa A in July-August 2007, but he was unable to function against India A. In his second first-class match, he only scored 15 runs (2 and 13), having been ruled out of the first game. Taylor was no longer needed behind the stumps with Tatenda Taibu back in the team. The entire Zimbabwe team performed better than expected in the ODI series against the full South Africa team, with one of them scoring over 100 points against South Africa, but fell short on all three counts. Taylor was also a good run, with 105 runs at 35.00 ending as the 5th highest run-scorer in the series. Taylor's first Twenty2020 outing was against the Eagles in September 2006, the second in September 2006 was against Bangladesh.

Taylor was instrumental in a Zimbabwe victory in the third ODI of the Bangladesh tour of Zimbabwe (2006). Zimbabwe needed five runs from the final ball to win the game, which effectively meant a six runs must be hit to win the game. Taylor hit a six off the bowling of Mashrafe Mortaza on the last ball, giving Zimbabwe the victory and contributing to the series's triumph. Taylor remained undefeated on 79 out of just 72 runs and was named man of the match for his match winning efforts with the bat.

He was still selected for the 15-man squad to tour the West Indies after a disappointing series at home against Bangladesh in February 2007, despite some questions regarding his service to the team. With over 60 ODIs under his belt, he is the team's most versatile player.

After a good World Cup campaign, which included 87 runs from three matches at an average of 29.00 (including a half-century), Taylor departed from international cricket in the Netherlands, despite the Zimbabwe Cricket board's ruling that any player leaving the country will be disregarded for selection.

Taylor got Matthew Hayden off the field early in the game, followed by Chigumbura's bowling of Matthew Hayden. Taylor was also involved in a first-class stumping that resulted in Andrew Symonds' departure. Taylor also played a crucial role in the disabling of Mitchell Johnson, who had just one stump to aim at.

Taylor opened their innings by restricting Australia to just 138 runs, which was poor by Twenty2020 standards. Taylor was the primary man and batted out the innings as Vusi Sibanda got the ball rolling with several quick boundaries, but Taylor was the primary player, and batted out the innings. With both teams well-known for the first dozen overs, Brad Hodge came on to bowl his gentle offspin in the 15th for the first time in Zimbabwe's favor. Two major sixes by Taylor were scored from the over, the longest of which was 77 meters. Taylor played a cheeky sweep that culminated in 4 runs from the first ball, despite 12 runs needed from the final over. Zimbabwe needed 4 runs from 2 balls to face Taylor against Chigumbura at the non-strikers' end, followed by a single, two, and another single. With a ball to spare, four leg-byes were scored, with the ball running down to the fine leg. Taylor's output stood out of 45 deliveries by 60 percent. The man of the match award was given to him after his fine all-round success with the bat and gloves.

Taylor was born in England in June 2008 and joined the Lashing World XI. This was seen as somewhat tense as a result of Taylor and Zimbabwe Cricket Board's policy of refusing to allow players to play abroad.

Brendan Taylor was 145 not out against the South African cricket team, who used his batet through the ODI innings and became the ninth person to do so. South Africa's score stood at 351/6 and Taylor delivered 145 of 136 deliveries as Zimbabwe managed 287/6, but the ball was weak, as Zimbabwe managed 287/6. He turned his head around in the same year against Sri Lanka and emerged Zimbabwe's standout batsman at the 2011 World Cup, with his upper-cut to third man being described by ESPNcricinfo writer Osman Samiuddin as "one of Group A's most memorable photographs."

He was also selected for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, where he finished as the third best runscorer for Zimbabwe with 170 runs in six matches. In a match against Sri Lanka where he top scored for Zimbabwe on 80 off just 72 runs and established a vital 116 run partnership with Regis Chakabva, he was known for his counter-attacking knock opening the batting in the first innings. The 116 run standoff is also the best opening partnership by a pair for Zimbabwe in a World Cup match. Zimbabwe fell to 188 in a run chase requiring 328, amid the duo's vain effort with the bat.

Taylor was appointed captain of Zimbabwe on June 24, 2011, taking over from Chigumbura after poor results in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. On his return to Test cricket against Bangladesh at the Harare Sports Club in August 2011, he captained the team against Bangladesh. He scored 71 runs in the first innings of the match, and he became Zimbabwean in second innings after David Houghton scored a century as captain in his first match as captain. Brendan Taylor was named man of the match for the second time in his career.

Taylor brought on his best form to date on New Zealand's tour to Zimbabwe, as part of the ODI series. He scored 128* in the 1st ODI, rescuing Zimbabwe from a precarious situation to a respectable 231. He scored another century (107*) in the upcoming match, leading the charge from the front and in the process, becoming the first Zimbabwean batsman to score back-to-back ODI tons. However, he did not receive any assistance from the other batsmen, and despite his tons, Zimbabwe lost both games. Taylor set the tone of the game with a brisk 75 off 65 balls, enabling Zimbabwe to beat Malcolm Waller and Elton Chigumbura in the final ODI, aiming for a huge 329 victory. Taylor was named Man of the Series by an average of 310.00 and a strike rate of over 100. His 310 runs were at the time when he hit a record number of runs in a three-match ODI series. In the one-off test match, he scored 50 and 117 points. Taylor became only the second Zimbabwean batsman after Kevin Arnott to score a century in the fourth innings of a Test match, despite the fact that the Test match featured five major sixes. New Zealand defeated New Zealand by a dramatic match despite his half-century and second Test cricket ton. Despite this, Taylor said that his team would continue to play aggressive, attacking test cricket, which attracted widespread praise from both directions. In 2011, he was named the cricketer of the year and the year's batsman of the year.

He was nominated as one of the ICC Player of the Year 2012 in particular for his outstanding work against New Zealand in 2011.

Taylor only managed to muster 33 runs against the West Indies, an average of 18, in a Test series where Zimbabwe were largely defeated by the home side, scoring 47 runs, averaging 15.66 with a high score of 39 runs. He also played in the T20 series, but he was only able to score 4 runs in two games.

Taylor did much better under home conditions against the touring Bangladesh in April 2013. With a high score of 171 in the first Test at the Harare Sports Club, he led Zimbabwe to draw the Test series 1–1. He scored twin centuries in both the innings and became the third Zimbabwean to score twin centuries in a single test match.

He led the team to a 2–1 victory in the tournament but struggled to match his Test scores. He also helped Zimbabwe to take the T20 series against Bangladesh 1–1.

Taylor recorded two centuries in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, becoming the first and only Zimbabwean cricketer to score in a single World Cup campaign. The first one was against Ireland, where he scored 121 runs from 91 balls. Taylor decided to resign from One Day internationals at the age of 29 prior to his last group stage game against India. Taylor scored 138 runs from 110 balls in his last match. After being drafted, he was congratulated by both his squad and the opposition team India. Sunil Gavaskar, a veteran Indian commentator, referred to Taylor's death in India as one of the best ODI innings he had ever seen, citing Taylor's knock of 138 against India. In Cricbuzz's "ICC World Cup 2015 team of the tournament," he was selected as a bench player.

With an average of 72.16 runs per match, he was named as Zimbabwe's top runscorer during the 2015 World Cup tournament, finishing fourth overall run-getter during the tournament's course, behind Martin Guptill, Kumar Sangakhar Dhawan, Shikhar Dhawan, and AB de Villiers. He also became the first Zimbabwean to score 400 or more runs in a single edition of the World Cup.

In a World Cup match against India, he and Sean Williams put on Zimbabwe's fourth wicket partnership of 93. In a World Cup match against Ireland, he and Sean Williams scored Zimbabwe's highest ever fifth wicket partnership of 149.

Taylor was a player for Nottinghamshire during the 2015 English cricket season. It was later revealed that financial stability problems among Zimbabwean cricketers was the reason for Taylor's departure from international cricket as well as Kyle Jarvis'; another Zimbabwean cricketer, Craig Ervine, had refused to sign a central contract with Zimbabwe due to the same reason. It was also one of the reasons why Zimbabwe-born Gary Ballance emigrated to England and began representing England instead.

Taylor's results in the Test arena were marginally less than what one would expect from a player at Test level. However, this was largely due to his youthful age and early promotion to the national team. Taylor has, on the other hand, has demonstrated superb maturity since returning to Zimbabwe's Test circuit, both as the team's leading batsman and captain. In the fourth innings of the Test match against New Zealand on a fifth day pitch, he scored two Test centuries and a century (inclusive of 5 major sixes). He was Zimbabwe's second Zimbabwean after Arnott's century in a Test match. Taylor has revealed that his squad will continue to play aggressive, attacking test cricket, which has received a lot of attention from both quarters. He has scored two half-centuries, 71 against Bangladesh, and 50 against New Zealand.

Although Taylor is primarily a top-order batsman, he has also been effective as a part-time off-break bowler. He was Zimbabwe's first choice wicketkeeper but he had to leave the wicketkeeping gloves after returning to Taibu. Taylor does well in ODIs and T20s but not in Tests, following Taibu's retirement in July 2012.

Taylor was released from his county contract with Nottinghamshire due to family reasons and so he is able to play for Zimbabwe again on September 14th. Taylor arrived in Zimbabwean training camps for the forthcoming international tours after ten days of relaxation with the family. In October 2017, he was called into Zimbabwe's Test squad for a series against the West Indies and played both matches. He only scored a single fifty in four innings, while Windies took the series 1–0.

In November 2018, he scored two centuries in a losing cause as Bangladesh won by a large 218 runs against Bangladesh, which was held in Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. He was also the first Zimbabwe batsman to score more than 100 in a Test on two separate occasions.

He was selected in Zimbabwe's squad for the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier and was also the top runcorer in the competition with 457 runs.

Domestic and T20 franchise career

Taylor has competed in Zimbabwe's national first-class tournament, the Logan Cup, since 2002. In December 2003, Mashonaland made his domestic one-day debut.

He is one of the best-performing and profitable batsman in the domestic circuit, and he has already has 4,719 with a highest scoring average of 217 and a batting average of 39.99. He has played 184 games in List A cricket, scoring 5,528 runs for a personal record of 145 runs. His average in those matches is 33.30. He has 1,307 in 47 matches at an average of 33.51.

Brendan Taylor was one of the main protagonists in the 2007–08 Metropolitan Bank Twenty2020. Taylor missed out on the elusive Twenty20 century by 15 runs against Southerns in the second match of the tournament. Taylor led the Northerns to 3/227 after 20 overs after 20 overs, before going on to win by 158 runs in a stunning 158 run run. 63 not out on his second half century against Centrals, but Northerns won by 9 wickets with 6 balls to spare. Taylor was the second highest run scorer of the tournament, scoring 168 runs at an average of 84.00.

In his first appearance for Northerns in the 2008–09 Logan Cup, he scored 95 points. His team won the match by a huge innings and 290 runs.

Taylor defeated his team Mid West Rhinos despite a brutal start by Chris Gayle in the 2011-20 Stanbic Bank 20 Series. Taylor's match-winning knock of 75, which he shared with New Zealander Lou Vincent, was a game-changing 105 off 34 runs, with three sixes remaining, and the 171-run massive chase ended with three wickets to spare, mainly thanks to Taylor's match-winning knock of 75, which culminated in a match-changing 105. It was the Rhinos' first victory of the season.

In December 2011, Taylor was given a contract to represent Wellington as an overseas player in New Zealand's HRV Twenty20 Cup. In the 2011–12 HRV Cup match against Wellington, he made his Auckland debut. Wellington ended up in last place, with only two wins from ten games, but Taylor was the team's top scorer with 207 runs and 11th overall.

Taylor was released by the Chittagong Kings for $30,000. The King's off to a slow start, but Taylor was one of the top scorers in the league at this point. Mahmudullah resigned as the King's captain after the first five games, and Taylor was charged with the captain's service. Taylor matched the Zimbabwe National team and Uthura Rudras (Sri Lankan Premier League), leading the Zimbabwe National team and Uthura Rudras (Sri Lankan Premier League). Taylor was the team's top scorer and 3rd in the league, despite being on the hot streak and racking for the third time in the season. The Kings were able to advance to the BPL Final, but Taylor had to return home due to sickness. The Taylor-less Kings fell short of the final, losing to the Dhaka Gladiators.

Taylor agreed to a three-year deal on March 13, 2015 as a Kolpak player for Nottinghamshire. He resigned from international cricket on the same day.

Following the draft for the 2018-19 Bangladesh Premier League, he was selected in the squad for the Khulna Titans team in October 2018. He was selected to compete for the Rhinos in the 2020-21 Logan Cup in December 2020.

Post-playing career and spot-fixing

Taylor revealed on Twitter on January 24, 2022, that he had been approached by a group of Indian businessmen in October 2019, and he initially refused to refuse the bid. He was invited by an unidentified Indian businessman to discuss in detail about sponsorships and the possibility of a national T20 competition in Zimbabwe. The invitation came at a time when Zimbabwean players had not been paid for about six months.

After being warned that they would leak photos of him taking cocaine, he confessed that they had blackmailed and cornered him to forcefully participate in spot-fixing. Taylor decided to do it by accepting US$15000 as bribes to ensure the safety of him and his families, as well as admitting to using opioids, but also claiming he was a victim of substance abuse. He admitted that after taking cocaine while inebriated, he mistakenly took the bait. He confessed that he did not report the incident to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for about four months, but that he would investigate substance abuse centers. He argued that if he was waiting to announce the spot fixing scheme, he would be fined with a multi-year suspension.

After his last international match, Taylor admitted that he failed a drug test after his last international match. He also said he had "beaten a few" other drug tests in the two countries three years before his final match. Zimbabwe Cricket released a statement confirming that they were aware of the probe and that they would wait for the ICC to announce its conclusions before making any comment.

After being found to have breached the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and the ICC Anti-Doping Code, Taylor was banned from all forms of cricket for three-and-a-half years. Zimbabwe Cricket said the next day that they were "deeply disappointed" in Taylor's behaviour and that they had "let cricket down" after he had "let cricket down."

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