Brendan Taylor comes of age

Zimbabwe has surprised both India and Sri Lanka in the ongoing Tri-series tournament, beating the former twice and the latter once. Crucial to the team’s success has been the performances of its openers, especially Brendan Taylor. On Cricket365, Tristan Holme looks back at the path Taylor has taken in international cricket.

It's been a long and bumpy road for Brendan Taylor since his debut as an 18-year-old schoolboy. As if international cricket wasn't overawing enough for someone so young, he immediately found himself caught in the middle of a political standoff. Zimbabwe's white players were protesting at what they saw as a racist selection policy from Zimbabwe Cricket, and wanted Taylor to take their side. Instead he opted to stay out of it and play for his country, but while that's turned out to be a good decision it hasn't meant the past six years have been easy.

Taylor has threatened to leave Zimbabwe cricket on more than one occasion as the game ground slowly to a halt, nearly walking out just months before the 2007 World Twenty20, when he anchored the innings in a memorable upset of Australia. Non payment by Zimbabwe Cricket was one of the main reasons, but equally frustrating was the lack of guidance and professional atmosphere usually put in place for international cricketers. In the absence of it, he and his young teammates were unable to push themselves to higher levels.