Taylor and Zim shaping up quite nicely
Posted: Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:40 pm
http://www.cricket365.com/news/story/61 ... ite-nicely
Up in the stands, his mother Debbie lit another cigarette while his father Graham fiddled nervously with a pair of binoculars. 97, 98, over up. One off the next over - 99. And then, finally, the quick single to bring up the century that had proved so elusive over the years of his development.
It's been a long and bumpy road for Brendan Taylor since his debut as an 18-year-old schoolboy. As if international cricket wasn't overawing enough for someone so young, he immediately found himself caught in the middle of a political standoff. Zimbabwe's white players were protesting at what they saw as a racist selection policy from Zimbabwe Cricket, and wanted Taylor to take their side. Instead he opted to stay out of it and play for his country, but while that's turned out to be a good decision it hasn't meant the past six years have been easy.
Taylor has threatened to leave Zimbabwe cricket on more than one occasion as the game ground slowly to a halt, nearly walking out just months before the 2007 World Twenty20, when he anchored the innings in a memorable upset of Australia. Non payment by Zimbabwe Cricket was one of the main reasons, but equally frustrating was the lack of guidance and professional atmosphere usually put in place for international cricketers. In the absence of it, he and his young teammates were unable to push themselves to higher levels.
"My first impression, and I'm sure he won't be too disappointed in me telling you this, is that he was overweight and he needed to get back into shape," recalled new coach Alan Butcher after Taylor made a career best 119 not out on Monday. "He looked as if he had talent but perhaps he'd not worked as hard as he could on his technique in the past. He has done that since we were in the West Indies and when we were back here. He's worked hard and he's getting his rewards, which is what normally happens."
What made Butcher's comment all the more meaningful was that Taylor was sitting next to him. It's the sort of honesty and openness that is making the new structure a successful one, and Taylor recently admitted to his father that this is the most professional atmosphere he's ever worked in. The dividends have been plain to see in his cricket during this series, in which he's now the leading run-scorer.
There's a certain simplicity about his batting these days, with a heavy reliance on playing with a straight bat. Even when Sri Lanka looked to target him with a series of short bowling on Monday Taylor refused to play the pull shot, preferring to keep the percentages in his favour by playing in front of his eyes as he nudged the bouncers around the corner for a single. When he does look to hit in the air, again it's with a straight bat - his driven six back over Dilhara Fernando's head was easily the shot of the day on Monday.
It's that new-found maturity and composure that has allowed him to play a key role in all three of Zimbabwe's tri-series victories, and the confidence he has exuded has leaked into the rest of the team. With someone to play around Zimbabwe's batsmen have seemed sure of themselves, and suddenly they look like a team who knows how to win.
It all bodes well for the future because the majority of Zimbabwe's players are not yet 24. Taylor himself is 23. A tournament like this - whether they win the final or not - has gone some way to healing the scars of the past five years, when players were brought in young to learn at the school of hard knocks. Most have had to deal with too much failure too soon, but these victories will breathe belief back into the side.
There's still a long way to go to Test cricket but the first steps have been taken. Taylor's ability to finally convert a half-century into triple-figure score is evidence of that. His parents go to just about every game. Soon they might find themselves enjoying Brendan's nervous nineties in some further flung places around the world.
