Brendan Taylor

One of the country's finest players, Brendan Taylor has had a career with a significant impact on Zimbabwe's fortunes, but it hasn't been without its struggles.

As a young cricketer, Taylor was nurtured by Iain Campbell, father of Alistair, at the well-known Lilfordia primary school near Harare, was a regular choice for national age-group teams, and played in two Under-19 World Cups.

In the decade that followed his debut in April 2004, Taylor was involved in almost every ODI - the format Zimbabwe played most often - his country took part in. At 21, he shot to prominence during the 2007 T20 World Cup when his ice-cool 60 not out carried Zimbabwe to an incredible five-wicket win over Australia in Cape Town.

He was appointed ODI captain after the 2011 World Cup as Zimbabwe worked towards a return from a self-imposed exile from Test cricket. He led them to a successful Test comeback later that year, scoring his maiden century in a win over Bangladesh, and another over Pakistan in 2013. That year, he also became only the third Zimbabwe batter, after the Flower brothers, to score centuries in both innings of a Test, against Bangladesh in Harare. He repeated the feat five years later in Mirpur.

Under Taylor, Zimbabwe seemed a renewed force, despite a sparse fixture list and struggles away from home. He played an important part in unifying the players in their off-field battles over unpaid salaries and the formation of a players' association.

After scoring two hundreds in the 2015 World Cup, including one against India, Taylor, disillusioned with international cricket and having fallen out with then-coach Stephen Mangongo, quit Zimbabwe's international set-up and signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Nottinghamshire. But midway through his final season at Notts, he gained permission for an early release, citing homesickness: his wife had remained in Zimbabwe with their children. And so at 31, he returned to international cricket more than two years since his departure.

In January 2022, four months after announcing his retirement, he shocked the cricketing world by revealing how corruptors tried to trap him in 2019 by offering him cocaine and then blackmailing him. While he emphasised he never fixed matches, he said he had delayed reporting the approach to the ICC for fear of his family's well-being and expected to be banned for this by the governing body. He was duly banned for this delay by the ICC, from all cricket, for three and a half years.

Taylor opened up about his struggles with substance abuse and underwent the 12-step programme and rehab. Three years later, aged 39, he considered a move into coaching but Givemore Makoni, Zimbabwe Cricket's MD, convinced him to resume playing for Zimbabwe with the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind.