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Brendan Taylor appreciation thread

Zimbabwe Cricket Forum 12 posts 195 views

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ZCF Hall of Famer

Opening post

273 high quality runs, 1 spectacular catch and 1 inspirational run out.

Not to mention the myriad of past achievements... a counter attacking Test century vs New Zealand, a match winning Test century vs Bangladesh in 2011, ODI centuries against a host of different teams, the architect of last over victories against Australia and Bangladesh, and so on.

Star player.

Image
ModZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
I was thinking of starting a Keith Dabengwa appreciation thread myself.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
BRMT :D

Eugene 😂
The Third Innings
ZCF Hall of Famer
Taylor is Zimbabwe's most successful Test captain by win percentage at the moment:


CricInfo Statistics wrote:BRM Taylor, 2011-2013, 7 matches, 2 wins, 5 losses, 28.57% wins, 71.42% loss.


Heath Streak has the second highest percentage with 19.04% wins.
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Anyone know who is the Zimbabwean with most test wins as captain, Taylor can't be far away with 2
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Did anybody watch Taylor bat in 2004 in his debut series ? Can anyone shed some light on how much the man has actually improved, or has he always had this natural ability. I only ever really first saw him bat in 2007, and it looks like he batted the same then as he does now...
ModZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

sloandog wrote:Did anybody watch Taylor bat in 2004 in his debut series ? Can anyone shed some light on how much the man has actually improved, or has he always had this natural ability. I only ever really first saw him bat in 2007, and it looks like he batted the same then as he does now...


Taylor always showed a lot of potential and didn't take long to not look out of his depth - which was very noticeable back in 2004 when Maregwede and Nkala were making the team based on their batting.
My All-time Zimbabwe XI
Neil Johnson, Brendan Taylor, Murray Goodwin, Andy Flower (w), David Houghton, Sean Williams, Heath Streak (c), Andy Blignaut, Paul Strang, Eddo Brandes, Blessing Muzarabani
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer
Quick Singles with Brendan Taylor: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/co ... 03032.html


Who is your all-time hero from any walk of life?

Andy Flower. I met him in 2000. We are family friends with his parents. I have been fortunate to have known them for a while. He is the greatest cricketer produced by Zimbabwe, and he was the No. 1 batsman in the world at one time.

I'm not in contact with him that much now. Grant Flower is our batting coach, so I ask him a lot of questions.

What's the best compliment you've received from a fellow cricketer?

One comes to mind. About two years ago Heath Streak told me, "You're better than you think you are. Go out and play like we know you can play." I fed off that and had a good two years.


Taylor proving to be the right leader: http://www.newsday.co.zw/2013/04/21/tay ... ht-leader/
ZCF OriginalZCF Hall of Famer

sloandog wrote:Did anybody watch Taylor bat in 2004 in his debut series ? Can anyone shed some light on how much the man has actually improved, or has he always had this natural ability. I only ever really first saw him bat in 2007, and it looks like he batted the same then as he does now...


Taylor shined from the start. I remember some great cover drives. He has developed heaps though and plays in a greater number of scoring areas as wel as obvious signature shots.
The Third Innings
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TapsC2 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 2:38 pm

All I’m saying is that let’s not knock these guys because we see them play regularly. The older generations also had their struggles. These guys have had it tough. I blame the system for failing the likes of Hami, Vusi, Chamu, Taibu and Elton more than I blame the players. Had they been in another system they would have had much better stats. They had the talent

Wes has gotten to be involved in 2 fine centuries at the very beginning of his career. He is seeing what he is doing wrong. He is being coached by that middle order. The previous generation had nobody


3 out of 4 of the guys mentioned lacked mental toughness.

Vusi in particular was one of the most nervous blokes I'd ever seen in the middle

He's a big reason why ten years back I wanted the coach to invest in a sports psychologist. That was why he was a 20s average player and not a 40s

One of his final (if not the final) century he got he deadset was dropped twice in the one of the most nervous nineties I'd seen. Williams was gifting him runs to try and get him there. Giving off strike to the part timers and they nearly lost in the end. Was against a nuffie team and game no one cared about. Afghanistan maybe?
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Googly wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 6:40 am

Career M In R NO HS Avg BF SR 100s 50s 4s 6s Ct St

Test 14 28 591 0 93* 21.10 1177 50.21 0 2 86 6 16 0

ODIs 127 126 2994 4 116 24.54 4716 63.48 2 21 328 35 42 0

T20s 26 26 511 1 59 20.44 503 101.5 0 1 52 11 12 0

World Cup 5 5 134 0 67 26.80 163 82.20 0 2 17 1 3

Sorry its a bit scrambled but these are Vusi's stats.

Not dissimilar.

The most frustrating batsman for me, a genuine talent with unbelievable technique.

It just shows that once you get to a certain level the rest of the game is between your ears, he should have been a star if he'd had different thought processes when he was out in the middle.


Tends to be a common theme among many of our players. They have the talent but just never push on. They just sit back and accept things. Almost as if once they are in the Zims squad, they feel they have made it and they don't need to keep pushing.


TapsC2 wrote: ↑Thu Nov 05, 2020 7:23 am

We are just going to forget the 138 international wickets Elton took right? I’m talking about Elton at his peak. Not now. The Elton who got a county gig as an international player right. I can tell you now Elton won more games for Zimbabwe than Ervine ha

Hami has a better ODI average than Houghton and a better test average than Johnson. All great players if you ask me. Just look at how we haven’t found somebody to replace Hami yet. Opening is not easy. I think Burl might be the only player right now with the technique required to play a long opening innings.

All I’m saying is that let’s not knock these guys because we see them play regularly. The older generations also had their struggles. These guys have had it tough. I blame the system for failing the likes of Hami, Vusi, Chamu, Taibu and Elton more than I blame the players. Had they been in another system they would have had much better stats. They had the talent

Wes has gotten to be involved in 2 fine centuries at the very beginning of his career. He is seeing what he is doing wrong. He is being coached by that middle order. The previous generation had nobody


1) As was said by someone else, this is a list about batsmen, so yes, definitely going to ignore Eltons wicket. Any player at their peak is good enough, which again, Craig would pip Elton because at his peak he is a dominant batsman. The difference is, Craig has been at his peak longer than Elton. He has been more consistent and still backs it up today despite what people think of him. You just can't get that UAE chip off your shoulder.

2) Let's be honest, we have not had a quality opener for a long time, even whilst Hammy was in the side. We have always had a problem up the top and despite the many opportunities that have presented themselves to be fixed, the board and selectors insist on making the wrong selections. Hammy has a better ODI average by 1.37. Hammy also played about 146 games more than Dave.

Dave got on to the international scene a lot later and he faced some incredibly awesome bowlers. He's quality as a player was evident for all to see and his test average is testament to that. His test average is 43.05 and Hammys is 30.04. A difference of 13. Again, Dave played less games and probably had less opportunities.

Neil made his debut at 28 and only played for the side for 3 years. Granted it's a short spell, but in that time he showed his class. He dominated bowling attacks with the likes of Mcgrath, Warne, Pollock, Donald, Khan, Kumble. He was an extremely talented batsman that everyone who saw play would tell you he had the technique and quality.

3) I'm not saying Hammy was not talented, I'm saying he failed his talent. Yes we can knock the system, but lets also not forget that every time an opportunity to change the system came up, Hammy always supported the system and resisted change. He never fought for change, so the system failing him and others is partly his own doing. He never stood up when he needed to and instead took the easy road. A player of his quality should really have better stats, yet he, Hammy, Prosper, Vusi...they were all content with the system. They never once fought it. They just accepted it and continued with mediocre contentment. They had many opportunities to fight for the same system other nations have, but they didn't. Instead they fought for the system they got.

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