Brendan Taylor, the former captain of Zimbabwe, has disclosed that the International Cricket Council is likely to “impose a multi-year ban” on his international career after he reportedly failed to report a corrupt approach “by an Indian businessman.” Taylor met with the businessman in October 2019 to “explore sponsorships and the prospective creation of a T20 competition in Zimbabwe.”
Taylor said he waited to report about the India meeting because he wanted to protect his family. In a statement on Twitter, he claims that substance misuse occurred during the encounter, which led to his being supposedly blackmailed. The men he’d met burst into his hotel room the next day, threatening to reveal film of the substance misuse unless he performed spot-fixing for them, according to Taylor. He was paid USD 15,000 as a deposit for a future payment once the fix was completed, which he claimed he pocketed to depart India.
It took me four months to submit this crime and interaction to the International Criminal Court “Taylor remarked. I realise this was an excessively long period of time, but I believed I could safeguard everyone, especially my family. I went to the ICC on my own terms, hoping that if I described my situation, which included a genuine worry for our safety and well-being, they would understand the delay.
“They didn’t, unfortunately, but I can’t pretend to be unaware of this. I’ve attended a number of anti-corruption workshops over the years, and we all know that when it comes to filing reports, time is of the utmost.”
Taylor also revealed that he had “I’ve never been a part of a match-fixing scheme. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a cheater. My passion for the great game of cricket far transcends and outperforms any threats that may be directed at me.”
The ICC has yet to respond to Taylor’s comments, and if he does face a ban from international cricket, it’s worth noting that he doesn’t have much of one at the moment: he resigned from international cricket in September last year following a 17-year career.
Taylor’s statement does, however, indicate some of the challenges he had while playing for Zimbabwe, which led to him being prescribed a powerful antipsychotic medicine. He said that he hadn’t been paid by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) for six months at the time of the event, and that it was “questionable if Zimbabwe would be able to continue competing in the international arena.”
Heath Streak, another former Zimbabwe captain, was banned by the ICC in April 2021 for violating the anti-corruption policy. In a recent interview with The Cricket Monthly, Streak disclosed that the coaching team had agreed to sacrifice income during the World Cup qualifiers in Harare in 2018, in the hopes that if Zimbabwe qualified, the ICC prize would be awarded.
“I’d also like to inform you that on Tuesday, January 25th, I’ll be entering a rehabilitation centre to get clean and reclaim my life. I feel compelled to share my experience today because I am confident that others will be interested in hearing it. I’m trying to figure out how we got here.” Taylor, Brendan
Taylor announced on January 25th that he will be “checking into a rehabilitation centre” to address his substance problems".
I’ll admit that the past two years have been tremendously difficult for me, both personally and professionally, and I’m still trying to dig out of the hole I’ve dug for myself. My family and friends have been tremendously supportive of me, and it is now evident to me that I have a much larger problem that has needed to be addressed for some time.
“As a result, I’d also like to inform you that on Tuesday, January 25th, I’ll be going into a rehabilitation centre to get clean and get my life back on track. I have to tell my story now because I know others will want to hear from me.
"I owe it to myself and my family to clean up and priorities them. I’ve allowed a substance dominate me, impairing my eyesight, morality, and ideals, and it’s past time for me to put what really important first.”
Between 2011 and 2021, Taylor captained Zimbabwe in 71 games across all three forms. Between mid-2011 to mid-2014, he was Zimbabwe’s full-time captain, before the country’s captaincy was split and Taylor was exclusively in charge of Test cricket. After retiring from international football at the end of the 2015 World Cup, he moved to the United Kingdom on a Kolpak agreement at the age of 29. He cancelled his Kolpak contract in late 2017 and returned to Zimbabwean cricket.
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