From addiction to comeback: Brendan Taylor's rocky road to Zimbabwe cricket return

Rehabilitation

Posted by AI on 2025-08-19 09:03:33 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-20 11:55:13

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Battle with drugs, rehab, and ICC ban: Brendan Taylor's rocky road to international cricket comeback. Taylor, once ensnared in cocaine bust and blackmail scandal, will play in second Test against New Zealand. The former Zimbabwe captain will make his long-awaited return, nearly four years after his abrupt retirement and three-and-a-half years after his ban.

Once ensnared in a cocaine bust and blackmail scandal, the former Zimbabwe captain will make his long-awaited return, nearly four years after his abrupt retirement and three-and-a-half years after his ban. Taylor was banned for failing to report a corrupt approach immediately. A group of businessmen had offered the keeper-batter cocaine during a meeting in India in 2019 and threatened to blackmail him unless he agreed to fix matches after revealing they had videotaped him consuming the banned substance.

The 40-year-old Taylor, one of Zimbabwe's greatest cricketers with nearly 10,000 international runs, has battled alcohol addiction in the past. He checked into a rehabilitation for 90 days near Harare shortly before the ICC officially banned him from all cricketing activities for three-and-a-half years. Once out of the rehab, Taylor took up coaching children for some time and was considering a full-time career as a coach. But Zimbabwe Cricket MD Givemore Makoni persuaded him to come out of international retirement once his ICC ban was lifted.

Zimbabwe, co-hosting the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup with South Africa and Namibia, would have been eager to have Taylor, their greatest wicketkeeper-batter since the legendary Andy Flower, as a guiding force within the team. Taylor, who captained Zimbabwe between 2011 and 2015 and later in 2021 shortly before his retirement, will replace Ben Curran in the XI for the second Test. New Zealand has already won the first Test by nine wickets. Taylor will now focus on helping the hosts level the series.

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