BY SPORTSCAST WRITER
HARARE – Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Brendan Taylor has turned to the public for advice on whether he should resume his playing career or become a coach when his ban from the game comes to an end in 2025.
By a distance the best Zimbabwean cricketer of his generation, Taylor was in January 2021 banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from all forms of cricket for three-and-a-half years after accepting a breach of anti-corruption and anti-doping rules.
Taylor admitted earlier that year that he received a $15,000 “deposit” for spot-fixing from an Indian businessman, though he claimed he was blackmailed and never went through with the arrangement.
The ex-Zimbabwe batting kingpin – who played 34 Tests, 205 one-day internationals and 45 T20Is – is considered one of the African nation’s finest batsmen in history alongside such greats as Dave Houghton as well as the brothers Andy and Grant Flower.
Taylor abruptly retired from cricket two years ago during Zimbabwe’s tour of Europe and it later emerged that the sudden decision was prompted by an investigation against him which Taylor was aware of.
37-year-old Taylor’s ban will lapse mid-2025, and by that time he will be 39 years and some months old.
Taylor took to X on Friday: “This is a decision I will consider very seriously in time. I’m probably leaning towards committing to my passion of coaching. Let me know your thoughts?
“It’s God’s will either way.”
By sunset on Sunday (Zimbabwean time), 61.9 % of Taylor’s followers had voted for a playing comeback, with 38.1 % encouraging him to pursue a coaching career once the ban is over.
Returning as a player, at 39, could be possible for Taylor as a batsman. If he stays fit, he can play on for two to three seasons.
SportsCast can also report of the possibility of Taylor’s ban being lifted much earlier due to final ICC findings which showed that despite the charges he accepted, the former Zimbabwe talisman didn’t indeed participate in any fixing activity or influence the outcome of any game.
Additionally, Harare-born Taylor has been embarking on a 50-km walk he named “Walk For Recovery” – under his Brendan Taylor Foundation – to help raise funds and promote drug abuse awareness.
In 2022 Taylor spent three months in alcohol and drugs rehabilitation at a resort in Nyanga on the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. At the beginning of 2023, Taylor posted on X that he had been “sober” for a year.
