CRICKET: Who takes over from Taylor?

Tinashe Kusema

THE departure of Brendan Taylor from the national team set-up has left a huge vacuum within the team’s leadership structure, igniting fresh debate among cricket pundits as to who should take over the Test captaincy.

After 23 Tests and 167 One Day Internationals, Taylor called time on his international career after signing a three-year Kolpak deal with Nottinghamshire.

With that departure, Taylor’s retirement has left the Test captaincy vacant and Zimbabwe Cricket seems to have three main options in selecting his successor.

The first and mostly seen as a quick fix measure will be to hand over the reins to One Day International and Twenty20 skipper Elton Chigumbura.

The other two will be to either give the captaincy to one of the senior players or go the West Indies route and name a younger player to grow into the role.

Solely based on the above assertions, the most likely front runners for the job will be Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza and Regis Chakabva.

ZiFM cricket commentator Jeff Murimbechi was quick to squash talk of handing the captaincy over to Chigumbura.

“Let me start by saying handing over the captaincy to Elton will be a huge mistake. He has failed in that role so far and lacks the steady head to lead the team, let alone on the Test arena,” said Murimbechi.

“He is no tactician and appears to be a little laid back for my liking. Take a look at his leadership during the World Cup, the only time we saw him do anything of note was during the toss.

“What the team needs right now is someone who will lead from the front like what Taylor did during his time.”

Murimbechi’s sentiments were echoed by fellow analysts Dean Du Plessis and Dirk Vijeon.

“Elton is the type of guy whom the teams needs to be firing with bat and ball. His game has already suffered due to the added responsibility of leading the ODI and Twenty20 squads and any additional strain will affect his game,” said Vijeon.

“Elton leading the team reminds me of the time Heath Streak was captain, both were phenomenal cricketers, but they lacked the skill and quick thinking required at this stage.

“Zimbabwe played their best cricket when these were on song, but results stopped when they were given the burden of leadership,” said Du Plessis.

The debate has not been isolated to cricket pundits alone, as even fans are weighing in with their nominations.

“ZC has two options when dealing with the issue of Test captaincy. They can either elect Regis Chakabva, who is probably going to replace Taylor as wicketkeeper. This move will act as a wake-up call to the senior players to improve their game.

“The other option will be to select one of the senior players and this surely would be either Vusi Sibanda or Hamilton Masakadza,” said Revai Chigwada.

Others have urged ZC to adopt the Australian model and elect the best player to lead the team.

“Aside from Brendan Taylor, the best and most consistent performer has been Sean Williams and its high time he is rewarded for his efforts. I know he’s not the most well-behaved player, but that added responsibility can force him to improve his behaviour,” said another cricket enthusiast.