Breaking... Taylor retires

[brmtaylor.com admin]

What is interesting is that this series is happening vs Ireland and BT is retiring: But we still don't see maehara and brmtaylor.com admin around...

I'm here now that I've seen the news

On the one hand I'm surprised he chose right now, but on the other hand the writing has been on the wall for about a year now. It has been pretty obvious for a while that Taylor is just going out and swinging the bat and having a bit of fun. All of his high scores have come from T20 style slogging rather than the grittier sort of knocks of the early 2010s.

I think the 2019 WCQ campaign sucked the soul out of the senior players. The Heath Streak stuff couldn't have helped. They've still put in decent performances for the most part, but the heart isn't there any more. They aren't in this years T20 WC despite the Taliban probably getting their team in, they don't look all that likely to qualify for the next ODI WC... for BT/Williams I think it's pretty understandable that they are fed up with it all. They've got nothing left to prove. Both will go down as Zim legends. Ervine/Raza came on the scene a few years later I guess, but it still applies to them.

This is a sad day for Zim cricket because I think we all expected that when BT left last time it was only temporary, but this time we know it's permanent.

It's the end of an era, BT is the last link to 2004 and he's transcended quite a few eras of Zim cricket. It won't be the same knowing that he's not there to save the day.

[sam_ahm]

Brendan just now says he will love to comeback and give something back to ZC in the future. Ofcourse not as a player but in some other capacity.

[Xlife]

Yep, agree 100% with ZimDoggy, Taylor is a whole different class of player, should have been convinced to push on until the next WC or at least set up his "retirement series" on home ground. In an era where players use the U19 pipeline to leverage county cricket, Taylor, who is waaaay better than any of those guys, chose to stay and make his bone, single-handedly winning Zim some games, went toe-to-toe vs Australia, India on the worlds biggest stage and prevailed. Show some damn respect

Proves my point about the the number of cry babies on here... Are there any grown adults? The reality is HE chose to retire yet you're blaming ZC, Rajput, everyone but the man who made the decision himself.

It sounds like he really doesn't want to play anymore, doesn't want to be stick in airports away from family, doesn't want to deal with ZC politics, doesn't want to work on fitness... Thankfully there is a bright future ahead with so many promising batsman under 21, we just need to move on.

Perhaps it's a good thing in the long run that the old guard that has a history with ZC goes sooner rather than later

You're literally the dumbest mother fucker I've ever come across. You're blaming Taylor for not putting wanting to put up with the board bullshit yet at the same time saying he's over it. Why do you think our best players are over it? It's not because of the airports or wanting to go for a run you fucktard. These guys love representing their country more than anything, its because the board at every single turn has made unbelievably dumb and short sighted decisions, if he had a non retarded board he would of gone on for another 2-3 years no doubt and actually helped all these supposed international quality 21 year olds you're so convinced will catapult us into stardom. You know all of this anyway but have continued to defend possibly the world's most incompetent cricket board (the new Taliban Afghan cricket board included).

That is an irrational and emotional take... At the end of the day, he made a decision that's best for him and his family, no one held a gun to his head and told him to quit now.

We are not going to win the world cup (or even qualify) in 2023, whether Taylor is there or not. If anything, people like him are a distraction at this stage and we need to move on with the youngsters

[Xlife]

What is interesting is that this series is happening vs Ireland and BT is retiring: But we still don't see maehara and brmtaylor.com admin around...

I'm here now that I've seen the news

On the one hand I'm surprised he chose right now, but on the other hand the writing has been on the wall for about a year now. It has been pretty obvious for a while that Taylor is just going out and swinging the bat and having a bit of fun. All of his high scores have come from T20 style slogging rather than the grittier sort of knocks of the early 2010s.

I think the 2019 WCQ campaign sucked the soul out of the senior players. The Heath Streak stuff couldn't have helped. They've still put in decent performances for the most part, but the heart isn't there any more. They aren't in this years T20 WC despite the Taliban probably getting their team in, they don't look all that likely to qualify for the next ODI WC... for BT/Williams I think it's pretty understandable that they are fed up with it all. They've got nothing left to prove. Both will go down as Zim legends. Ervine/Raza came on the scene a few years later I guess, but it still applies to them.

This is a sad day for Zim cricket because I think we all expected that when BT left last time it was only temporary, but this time we know it's permanent.

It's the end of an era, BT is the last link to 2004 and he's transcended quite a few eras of Zim cricket. It won't be the same knowing that he's not there to save the day.

I agree with this, very good points raised

[CrimsonAvenger]

What is interesting is that this series is happening vs Ireland and BT is retiring: But we still don't see maehara and brmtaylor.com admin around...

I think the 2019 WCQ campaign sucked the soul out of the senior players. The Heath Streak stuff couldn't have helped. They've still put in decent performances for the most part, but the heart isn't there any more. They aren't in this years T20 WC despite the Taliban probably getting their team in, they don't look all that likely to qualify for the next ODI WC... for BT/Williams I think it's pretty understandable that they are fed up with it all. They've got nothing left to prove. Both will go down as Zim legends. Ervine/Raza came on the scene a few years later I guess, but it still applies to them.

Yeah, that must be the crux of it all, and given that state of mind, constant disagreements with the board / management would mean that they could wake up one day and feel - "what the hell is the point of all this?"

Physical and mental fatigue takes its toll after a while.

Without all the stop-starts, in an ideal world, he would have probably averaged about 5 runs more across formats.

[zimbos_05]

That is an irrational and emotional take... At the end of the day, he made a decision that's best for him and his family, no one held a gun to his head and told him to quit now.

We are not going to win the world cup (or even qualify) in 2023, whether Taylor is there or not. If anything, people like him are a distraction at this stage and we need to move on with the youngsters

And if you look to left folks, here you will see an individual who does not understand Zim cricket nor its inner working, but will continue to talk as if they know better than those who've followed this team all their life.

[brmtaylor.com admin]

What is interesting is that this series is happening vs Ireland and BT is retiring: But we still don't see maehara and brmtaylor.com admin around...

I think the 2019 WCQ campaign sucked the soul out of the senior players. The Heath Streak stuff couldn't have helped. They've still put in decent performances for the most part, but the heart isn't there any more. They aren't in this years T20 WC despite the Taliban probably getting their team in, they don't look all that likely to qualify for the next ODI WC... for BT/Williams I think it's pretty understandable that they are fed up with it all. They've got nothing left to prove. Both will go down as Zim legends. Ervine/Raza came on the scene a few years later I guess, but it still applies to them.

Yeah, that must be the crux of it all, and given that state of mind, constant disagreements with the board / management would mean that they could wake up one day and feel - "what the hell is the point of all this?"

Physical and mental fatigue takes its toll after a while.

Without all the stop-starts, in an ideal world, he would have probably averaged about 5 runs more across formats.

It's a really interesting hypothetical. I think you can probably add more than 5.

Had Taylor gone into a "normal" Zim set up, one that had the Flowers etc all at the end of their career ushering in the new generation - he wouldn't have had to be the big kahuna from day one pretty much. Add +5

Had there not been any of the ZC shenanigans over the years, of which there has been a ridiculous amount (imagine if BT was in a healthy set up like New Zealand's)... fights with the board, bad coaching, etc etc etc. Probably add another +5

Hell had he played more games at his peak (after the 2015 WC) maybe you can add another +5.

So I don't think it's unreasonable to think he could have been a 45-50 avg test batsman in any other country.

[CrimsonAvenger]

But then you'll also have to take into consideration - in that scenario - that Zim Cricket would itself be more competitive and hence would have attracted higher quality opposition and hence BT would have faced tougher attacks. Thus reducing some of those +5s. So, I capped that average increment at a reasonable level

[brmtaylor.com admin]

But then you'll also have to take into consideration - in that scenario - that Zim Cricket would itself be more competitive and hence would have attracted higher quality opposition and hence BT would have faced tougher attacks. Thus reducing some of those +5s. So, I capped that average increment at a reasonable level

That's a good point, maybe he'd have been surrounded by better batsmen though - less pressure on his shoulders, and more not outs as well

[zimlover]

But then you'll also have to take into consideration - in that scenario - that Zim Cricket would itself be more competitive and hence would have attracted higher quality opposition and hence BT would have faced tougher attacks. Thus reducing some of those +5s. So, I capped that average increment at a reasonable level

That's a good point, maybe he'd have been surrounded by better batsmen though - less pressure on his shoulders, and more not outs as well

Any chance of you appointing me as Admin to look after the page and stuff, whilst you are on your retirement?

We need some one to have a look at things when you are away?