Brendan Taylor quits Zimbabwe for county cricket
- Thread starter The Speaker
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Tough short-term for Zimbabwe but I ultimately think that it will serve both of them better in the long-term. Taylor gets to set-up a future for him and his family after toiling away for many years and staying extremely loyal to his country when many others have jumped ship, with very little reward- while I think it's the perfect chance for Chigimbura and Masakadza to stamp their authority on the next generation of cricketers- and Taylor will likely come back a better player in three years time for a very successful career twilight.
Unfortunately was always on the cards.
He's got a wife and kid now.
Craig Ervine will follow suit and I wouldn't be surprised if Sean Williams left as well
He's got a wife and kid now.
Craig Ervine will follow suit and I wouldn't be surprised if Sean Williams left as well
Could be captain of England in 3 years.
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- #5
Three years may also be enough for Robert Mugabe to depart. Theoretically, that may be the beginning of the revival of cricket in Zimbabwe, although it will probably take at least another decade for the web around him to disintegrate.
Who knows what will happen when Mugabe dies.
Might be a good time to be out of the country
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- #7
Excuse my ignorance/laziness for not looking this up but why cant he play county and for zimbabwe? Is it part of the deal that he has to stop? How much more money would you get in county cricket?
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- #8
Kolpak players are basically treated as domestic players. As long as he is a Kolpak player, he is ineligible to play for Zimbabwe.
Not only would he be getting a fair amount more money playing county cricket, he would also (more importantly) have a genuinely reliable income.
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I am depressed by this news. The English county system needs to be examined. Their ability to pull in other nation's best talent so easily at the expense of developing cricket nations (mainly Ireland and Zimbabwe) is destroying cricket in the long term and ultimately putting the long form in jeopardy all together. In the future it could well be India, Aus and a composite 'English' side playing each other every 6 months with no real meaning.
What is there to examine?
The English county system is pulling in Brendan Taylor because it offers him consistent employment and an income.
It could be worth the ICC deciding that players like Brendan Taylor should still be eligible to play for Zimbabwe despite playing domestic cricket in England.
Like how Paul Stirling plays county cricket but is eligible to play for Ireland
PTizzle
Brownlow Medallist
I don't mind that idea, perhaps restrict it to the top 8 nations - I know Kolpak rules can be a bit inflexible and strange though.
The first line is really spot on, Taylor obviously loves playing for Zimbabwe but if a cricketer of his skill doesn't feel comfortable with his finances (and the consistency of them) playing for his country it's hard to begrudge him making the move. He's given a lot to Zimbabwe cricket and they have a new captain now.
It's sad to think that the likes of Williams may well be gone soon too, but Zimbabwe cricket is rotten and players like them have at least made a good fist of it. Hopefully it changes eventually but at 29 with a family it's not something realistic to ask of Taylor.
Will say that I'll be sad not to see him as part of the Zimba line-up though, has been such a constant and is a good player to watch.
This is not a new phenomenon, Murray Goodwin, Neil Johnson, the Flowers, Henry Olongo, Pommie Mbwanga, Heath Streak amongst others all walked away from Zimbabwe cricket when in their prime (they had a seriously good side) due to the political instability and financial uncertainty under the ZCU.
Nothing is changing in Zimbabwe anytime soon, good luck to Taylor and his family.
What is a Kolpak?
Kolpak is a term which represents a person from a country which has a European Union Association Agreement and subject to having a valid work permit is not subject to any Non EU quota rules. This has resulted in a large number of players (who would traditionally been classified as overseas players) being allowed into the County System.
OK, so obviously counties are limited in how may overseas players they can have, but if you can qualify as a Kolpak you count as a "local" so to speak. But in qualifying as a Kolpak you are therefore "English" and can't also play for a national team other than England.
It's so sad considering what a talented side they could have had through the late 90s and 2000s......
And with those names there plus the likes of Ebrahim and Taibu, it would have been a so-called "team of colour" anyway, without the need for all the political bullshit.
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- #17
Every now and then, when they shows Zimbabwean records on Cricinfo, you can see that they were really going somewhere, because most of the records will have been made between 2000 and 2002.
Imagine where they could've been today without Mugabe.
One overseas player at any one time, rules on how you can get a work permit mean unless your young you need to have played International Cricket. County is full of Kolpak qualifying players or guys like Hogan and Cosgrove who use their dual passport status to play as locals.
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Reality is, he can't live off of playing for the national team alone. Zimbabwe only played around 40 days of cricket across all formats last year. Even with a central contract (if they have them), that's barely a part-time job. As sad as it is not to see him play for his country, an English county deal would provide him and his family with much greater income and security.
Barring off field issues they could have fielded this hypothetical XI for this world cup.
Not even going to include Sean Ervine but I will include Taibu and Cremer (decided to become a missionary and a golfer respectively)
1. Hamilton Masakadza
2. Sikander Raza
3. Garry Ballance
4. Brendan Taylor
5. Sean Williams
6. Craig Ervine
7. Tatenda Taibu+
8. Graeme Cremer
9. Kyle Jarvis
10. Tendai Chatara
11. Tinashe Panyangara
12. Elton Chigumbura
13. Solomon Mire
14. Vusi Sibanda
15. Tawanda Mupariwa
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- #21
I suspect Taibu would've left anyway. Sean Ervine in and Taylor keeping would be just as good.
Yep and on top of all the issues mentioned in the thread you only have to look at Mangongo pettily banishing Williams a couple of months ago as well as Panyangara's suspension for sharing that video of Mitch Johsnon. It'd take a lot of pride and pariochalism to accept putting up with that kind of crap when you can earn a stable living in England
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- #23
Keegan Meth is another one who has retired young for family reasons.
Charles Coventry, the man who hit 194* in an ODI is another.
Charles Coventry, the man who hit 194* in an ODI is another.
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They do like overseas wicketkeepers - Ambrose,Keiswetter
Jones and Prior have strong international backgrounds as well. It's a big shame that Kieswetter career is being threatened by his eye injury. He wasn't a classical keeper, but showed plenty of promise with the bat (albeit not to the extent of being prolific in county cricket). I know that Bairstow was selected as a wicket-keeper out of convenience, but they would have been better off trying a guy more comfortable in the role like Kiewetter or Steve Davies when they had the chance. It's pretty clear that Bairstow's future is as a batsman only, playing him as a keeper would be like us doing the same with Phi Hughes (RIP) - stuffing around with a young cricketer trying to turn them into something they have little hope of becoming for the sake of a quick fix.
