Brendan Taylor

Brendan Taylor is one of the finest players that Zimbabwe has ever produced. His storied career has been long-winded with on-field success and off-field struggles.

As a young cricketer, Taylor was nurtured by Iain Campbell, father of Alistair, at the well-known Lilfordia primary school near Harare, was a regular choice for national age-group teams and played in two Under-19 World Cups.

In the decade that followed his debut in April 2004, Taylor was involved in almost every ODI - the format Zimbabwe played most often - his country took part in. Taylor shot to prominence at Cape Town on September 12, 2007, his ice-cool 60 not out carrying Zimbabwe to an incredible five-wicket win over Australia in the ICC World Twenty20.

He was appointed ODI captain after the 2011 World Cup, as Zimbabwe worked towards a return from a self-imposed exile from Test cricket. He led them to a successful Test comeback later that year, in which he also scored his maiden century, and to a win over Pakistan a month later.

Under Taylor, Zimbabwe seemed a renewed force, despite a sparse fixture list and struggles away from home. As one of the senior-most players in the squad, Taylor played an important part in unifying the players in their off-field battles over unpaid salaries and the formation of a players' association.

Taylor had briefly abandoned Zimbabwe's international set-up after the 2015 World Cup. Disillusioned with international cricket and having fallen out with then-coach Stephen Mangongo, he signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Nottinghamshire which made him ineligible to play for Zimbabwe while that contract was in effect. But, midway through his final season at Notts he gained permission for an early release, citing homesickness: his wife Kelly had remained in Zimbabwe with their four young sons. And so at 31, he returned to Test cricket, against West Indies in Bulawayo, nearly three years after his previous innings.

In January 2022, four months after having announced his retirement, he shocked the cricketing world with a disturbing Twitter post on how corruptors tried to trap him in late 2019 with a combination of cocaine and blackmail. While he emphasised he never fixed matches, he said he had delayed reporting the approach to the ICC for fear of his family's well-being and expected to be banned for this by the governing body. He was duly banned for this delay by the ICC, from all cricket, for three and a half years from January 28, 2022.

Taylor has outlined his struggles with substance abuse and underwent the 12-step programme and rehab. Upon returning, he started off as a private-coaching facility.

Three years later, aged 39, he considered a move into coaching but Givemore Makoni, Zimbabwe Cricket's MD, convinced him to resume playing with the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind.

ESPNcricinfo staff