
Brendan Taylor
Zimbabwean cricketer
Date of Birth | : | 06 February, 1986 (Age 39) |
Place of Birth | : | Harare, Zimbabwe |
Profession | : | Cricket Player |
Nationality | : | English, Zimbabwean |
Social Profiles | : |
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Brendan Ross Murray Taylor (ব্রেন্ডন টেলর) is a Zimbabwean international cricketer and a former Zimbabwean captain, who played all formats of the game. Taylor is a right-handed batsman but is also an off spinner. In 2015, former Zimbabwe captain Alistair Campbell described Taylor as "our standout player for the last seven or eight years". He is known for his unorthodox shots especially his ability to play upper cuts over the third man and ramp shots with elegance and are often considered as his trademark signature shots. His style of play and ability to make substantial contribution with the bat often drew comparisons with that of Andy Flower. He represented Zimbabwe in four ICC T20 World Cup tournaments in 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2014. Also, he represented Zimbabwe in three ICC ODI world cups as well in 2007, 2011 and 2015.
He captained Zimbabwe in ODIs until 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, having taken over the reins from Elton Chigumbura after the 2011 Cricket World Cup. He became the first Zimbabwean batsman to hit back-to-back One-Day International (ODI) centuries (128 not out and 107 not out), achieved against New Zealand in October 2011. He repeated the feat again at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup. He was selected to play Twenty20 cricket for the Wellington cricket team as an overseas player in New Zealand's HRV Twenty20 Cup in December 2011. His 433 runs at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup set a new record for Zimbabwe in any World Cup. His 11 centuries in ODIs is also a Zimbabwe record surpassing Alistair Campbell's 7.
Early years
Taylor was nurtured by Iain Campbell, the father of Zimbabwean Test cricketer Alistair Campbell, at Lilfordia School near Harare. During his teens, where he attended St. John's College (Harare), Taylor emerged as a regular choice for national age-group teams and played in two Under-19 World Cups. He made his first-class debut for Mashonaland A at the age of 15. The very next year, he shot to prominence by scoring 200 not out in the B Division of the Logan Cup. Strong domestic performances and a mass exodus of top-level players forced Taylor into the national team at the age of 18 against Sri Lanka in 2003–04. He made his ODI and international debut against Sri Lanka on 20 April 2004 at Bulawayo ad opened the batting alongside Vusi Sibanda but had a tough start to his international career after being clean bowled by Chaminda Vaas for duck on his debut. He made his test debut a month later on 6 May 2021 against Sri Lanka in a losing cause.
Taylor made his debut for Zimbabwe at a time when many of the country's leading players rebelled against Zimbabwe Cricket (formally known as the Zimbabwean Cricket Union) and made themselves unavailable to represent the side. Consequently, to fill the gap, many young players were prematurely brought into the team, which weakened the side, especially at Test level. Taylor was one of the youngest and most promising in this lot. In 2006, despite not having signed a new contract, he was selected in the national team. Soon, he took over the wicketkeeping responsibilities as well following the temporary departure of Tatenda Taibu. He shot to international prominence after his 60 not out helped Zimbabwe achieve a five-wicket upset over Australia in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20.
Domestic and T20 franchise career
Taylor has been playing in Zimbabwe's domestic first-class competition, the Logan Cup, since 2002. His domestic one-day debut came for Mashonaland in December 2003.
In the domestic circuit he is one of the most reliable and successful batsman, and in 68 first-class matches, he already has 4,719 with a highest score of 217 and a batting average of 39.99. In List A cricket, he has played 184 matches, scoring 5,528 runs, with a personal best of 145*. His average in those matches are 33.30. In Twenty20 cricket, he has 1,307 in 47 matches at an average of 33.51.
Brendan Taylor was one of the star players in the 2007–08 Metropolitan Bank Twenty20. Taylor missed out on that elusive Twenty20 century by 15 runs when he scored 85 not out against Southerns in the second match of the tournament. Batting first, Taylor opened the batting and guided the Northerns to 3/227 after 20 overs, before going on to record a massive 158 run win. He also scored a second half century, 63 not out, against Centrals, a match Northerns won by 9 wickets with 6 balls to spare. Taylor was the second highest run scorer of the tournament, smashing 168 runs at an average of 84.00.
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