Brendan Taylor back in Zimbabwe colours

Brandon Moyo

HAVING retired from international cricket in 2021 after Zimbabwe’s tour of Ireland and banned for three and a half years, months later, Brendan Taylor makes his return to the Chevrons today as they host New Zealand in the second Test match at Queens Sports Club.

The veteran batter, who is Zimbabwe’s fourth all time leading run scorer in Tests is one of the two changes that the Chevrons made from the team that suffered a nine wicket loss in the first Test at the same venue last week.

Taylor comes in for Ben Curran at the top of the order and will open the batting with Brian Bennett.
“Dealing with the sanctions, dealing with my own internal chaos.

There was not a specific day, there were multiple days of trauma. It was incredibly difficult. There’s always that shame and guilt of letting down your family. But the way they supported me I wondered why I didn’t lean on them earlier. If I had not made that life changing decision, none of this would have been possible. Must mention that there are a few people in Zimbabwe Cricket, the chairman, especially.
“It’s so rewarding to see the amount of cricket Zimbabwe are getting. It’s an honour to play again.

It’s a debut-like feeling. Three years ago, I couldn’t get out of bed and now I am here doing what I love: representing Zimbabwe,” said Taylor.

The other change sees Trevor Gwandu come in for Newman Nyamhuri while the rest of the team remains unchanged.

New Zealand lead the two match Test series 1-0 and go into this match, effectively, the entire series without the services of their skipper Tom Latham who is yet to recover from a shoulder injury.

Zakary Foulkes replaces the injured Nathan Smith for New Zealand.

Toss:
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first.
“This wicket looks a lot batter. Not much grass here, so l expect it to play better. A few guys came on the fourth day and worked on those little things,” said Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine.
Teams:
Brian Bennett, Brendan Taylor, Nick Welch, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine (C), Sikandar Raza, Tafadzwa Tsiga(WK), Vincent Masekesa, Blessing Muzarabani, Tanaka Chivanga, Trevor Gwandu.
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(WK), Mitchell Santner(C), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Matthew Fisher, Jacob Duffy.