Ex-Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor banned for spot-fixing, doping

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Friday banned former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor for three and a half years over breaches in anti-corruption and anti-doping rules after he failed to report a spot-fixing approach and failed a dope test. 

This comes four days after the 35-year-old revealed in a stunning confession that he accepted $15,000 from an Indian businessman in 2019 to fix international games. 

Taylor claimed that while he accepted the money, he never fixed any games. 

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He was also found guilty of an anti-doping offence after testing positive for the cocaine metabolite Benzoylecognine. The ICC said he tested positive for the stimulant in September, after an ODI game against Ireland. Taylor retired from international cricket after that series. 

The ICC said Taylor admitted to four charges under the anti-corruption code. He has been banned for three and a half years for the anti-corruption breaches, and one month for the doping offence, which will run concurrently.

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“Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor has been banned from all cricket for three and a half years after he accepted breaching four charges of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and, separately, one charge of the ICC Anti-Doping Code,” the governing body said in a statement. 

“Taylor’s period of ineligibility was reduced to one month because he was able to establish that he had ingested the substance out of competition, that it was unrelated to sport performance, and because he is currently undergoing a rehabilitation treatment programme.”

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In his confession, Taylor claimed he was blackmailed after “foolishly” taking cocaine during his meeting with an Indian businessman.

Taylor had claimed that he was invited by the businessman to India to discuss “sponsorships” and potential launch of a T20 event in Zimbabwe besides an offer of USD 15,000 in October 2019. He did not name the businessman in question and the ICC also identified him as merely Mr S.

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He also admitted he had a problem with cocaine and said he was going to check into a rehabilitation center this week.

Taylor played 205 ODIs, 34 Tests and 45 T20s before retiring last year.