Four years and a month ago, Brendan Taylor played what would have been the last Test match of his career. He had retired two months after that Test. A year later, he was sanctioned for not reporting a corrupt approach in time. As if that wasn’t enough, he was also found to be addicted to alcohol and drug use. Even one of the things above is enough to end the most celebrated of careers. Taylor, however, has received a second chance to represent his country in whites once again.
In an emotional interview ahead of the second Test match versus New Zealand, he termed his return to international cricket as “a debut-like feeling”, after serving a three-and-a-half-year sanction.
“How good is it that three years ago, I couldn’t get out of bed and now I am here doing what I love, and that’s representing Zimbabwe?” Taylor said before the first day of the second Test. “Dealing with the sanction, dealing with my own internal chaos, there was not a specific day, there were multiple days of trauma.
“I was in the dark depths in the abyss and trying to just get through this total and incomprehensible demoralisation of life. It was incredibly difficult.”
Seven months after his retirement in 2021, he revealed that he had been approached by match-fixers, who threatened to expose his drug abuse if he refused to follow what they said. It was a nasty intersection for Taylor to be at, and so he quit international cricket to save his career from being affected by either. Following the ban, he checked himself into a rehab centre in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, where he turned his life around. Initially, he had plans of returning to cricket in a coaching capacity, which is why he set up a facility in his home. However, being one of the more prolific Zimbabwe batters in the ODIs, he was approached by Zimbabwe Cricket’s (ZC) MD Givemore Makoni, who convinced him to return to the side as a batter.
From what he tells, his family has been a huge support in his journey of realigning his life after these events.
“I felt it was something I got myself into and I needed to fix it myself. I thought the dream had gone and I was content with it,” Taylor said.
“Then came the joys and promises of recovery, something that is very dear to me,” he said. “Getting my life back on track is the reason why I am able to be here. If I had not made that life-changing decision, none of this would have been possible.
“There have been some very important people in my corner, showing me a new way to live, and I am eternally grateful for that. There are a few people in Zimbabwe Cricket that I have to thank, especially the chairman and the MD, who have been absolutely pivotal in their support to having me back.”
He was handed his 36th Test cap in Bulawayo, where he will play for Zimbabwe at the top of the order, abandoning his usual No. 4 spot. At 39 years of age, he doesn’t expect many blockbuster performances coming off his bat, but for him, his return is bigger than scoring big runs.
“[Getting the 36th Test cap] meant the world to me. It was a moment of pure gratitude and real emotion to be welcomed back with open arms,” Taylor said. “It was not the reaction I was expecting. But it’s certainly a moment of reflection and real gratitude. It’s so rewarding to see the amount of cricket Zimbabwe Cricket is putting out there. I have trained harder than I have ever trained in my life to get back there. If performances happen, that’s great but there’s a much bigger picture here for me to play. It’s an honour to play again. It’s a debut-like feeling.”
