BRENDAN Taylor is one of the best cricketers to have emerged out of our country.
The 39-year-old cricketer caught the attention of the world when he scored an unbeaten half century against Australia in an ICC World T20 Cup match in 2007.
Taylor had made his debut for the Chevrons three years earlier.
His unbeaten 60 powered Zimbabwe to a five-wicket win over the mighty Australians.
He was appointed the ODI captain at the 2011 World Cup.
He then left the international set-up after the 2015 ICC World Cup and joined English county side Nottinghamshire.
But, his young family remained in Harare and in 2017 Taylor ended his Nottinghamshire stint by returning home.
He returned to the international fold and his world collapsed around him when he was handed a three-and-half year ban by the ICC for not reporting a match-fixing approach.
This was related to a trip he took to India in 2019 where he met some Indian bookmakers who wanted him to fix some matches.
Taylor claims he went to India to discuss a potential T20 tournament, as well as personal sponsorship packages.
He was handed a US$15,000 cash gift at the time.
When he accepted an offer of cocaine during an evening in the company of his Indian hosts, Taylor did not know that he was being pushed into a trap.
However, when his hosts busted into his hotel room with footage of him consuming They wanted him to fix matches and, if he didn’t play to their tune, then they would release the footage of him taking cocaine.
Taylor claims that he never fixed any matches, even after those threats, but he also didn’t report that approach to the ICC and in doing so he violated an important part of the organisation’s rules and regulations.
He was banned for three-and-half years.
Taylor has undergone rehabilitation and when he completed his ban he wanted to be a coach.
However, Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Givemore Makoni persuaded him to consider playing again and on Sunday at Harare Sports Club, Taylor completed his comeback with a century against Botswana.
A ton against the minnows isn’t something that can attract headlines.
But, for Taylor, this was more than a simple hundred against a lightweight.
This was redemption – his return from the darkness which had consumed his world from the moment he was banned by the ICC.
We are happy to see Taylor smiling again. We are happy to see him making the fans smile again.
We are also happy to see him contributing to the Chevrons again.
Taylor has owned up to the challenges he faced, which almost ruined his life, and it’s very clear that he doesn’t want to go back to that chapter. We have to support him because he is one of our own.
He is showing us that even when we make serious mistakes in our lives we can find a way to make up for that lost time.
