Taylor interview with Zimbabwe Independent

Posted by brmtaylor.com admin on October 19, 2007

Earlier this week, Zimbabwean newspaper, the Zimbabwe Independent, interviewed Brendan Taylor. The focus was on his two heroics, the last ball 6 against Bangladesh and his 60* against Australia. Thanks to maehara at zimcricketnews.com for posting the article, I may not have seen it otherwise.

To summarize, Taylor said in the game against Bangladesh that all he needed was to be confident on the last ball, and that the bowler, Mashrafe Mortaza was under immense pressure.

And about the win over Australia, Taylor speaks of the praise Ricky Ponting gave him:

"Coming from the best player in the world, it’s a massive compliment you can receive. We all want to play like the Australians, but when you get Ponting talking of you highly it’s something special"

"The only other teams we have beaten are the likes of Bangladesh, so there’s no doubt beating Australia will remain the highlight of my career for some time to come. It does boost my confidence and inspire me to work harder."

"I feel there’s a lot of us who have started to prove ourselves. We all knew we had the ability, but it’s been a matter of time. We’ve been around as a unit for some time and results should start coming now."

"And if we could beat Australia, there’s no reason we can’t beat anyone else. The victory was a big stepping stone."

He goes on to talk about his upbringing, saying how his father was a major influence, despite not being a cricket player himself. He says he was lucky to go to Lilfordia Primary School, where his talents were nurtured by Ian Campbell, former national team captain Alastair Campbell's father.

"I can say I was fortunate to go to Lilfordia where my career was moulded. My father didn’t play cricket but he has helped me mentally", Taylor told the Independent.

And we know now why Tatenda Taibu is behind the stumps again:

"I enjoy keeping wicket because it keeps you involved. But at the moment I’m happy as well just batting since Taibu returned."

"I had the gloves during the Twenty20 in South Africa as we needed Taibu in the field because he’s good and athletic and you can’t afford to let off easy chances in that form of cricket."

"But right now I’ll have to concentrate on my batting but should I get the chance to keep wicket I’ll be happy to do both."

Taylor presented himself very well in the interviews, and it looks like this is the beginning of a very successful career for Zimbabwe. He hopes the team can return to Test cricket, where he averages over 20, by May 2008.

The full article can be viewed at the Zimbabwe Independent website. I have also made it available here should the original article disappear.