Former Zimbabwe cricket captain Brendan Taylor has admitted he took money from match-fixers who tried to blackmail him into manipulating games with a secret video of him using cocaine on a visit to India in 2019.
Taylor said that the International Cricket Council was about to impose a “multi-year ban” on him and he had decided to release his statement in advance of that.
Even though he took $US15,000 from the fixers, Taylor said he never fixed or manipulated games.
The 35-year-old batsman retired from international cricket late last year.
Taylor said he was invited to India to discuss a sponsorship opportunity in October 2019.
At a dinner with businessmen, he was offered cocaine and “foolishly took the bait”.
“The following morning, the same men entered my hotel room to show me a video taken of me the night before doing cocaine and told me that if I did not partake in spot fixing at international matches, the video would be released to the public,” Taylor said.
Taylor said he took the $US15,000 from the men, who said it was now a “deposit” for him to fix and they promised him another $20,000 once the fixing “job” was complete.
Taylor said that he took four months to report the incident to the ICC and accepted that was against cricket’s anti-corruption rules.
He would “humbly” accept the ban from the ICC, he said, “and only hope that my story will be used as a means of encouragement for cricketers to report any illicit approaches as early as possible.”
Taylor also said that he would be checking into a rehabilitation centre on Tuesday “to get clean and get my life back on track”.
“I owe it to myself and to my family to get clean and to put them first,” he said.
“I have let a substance take control of me and impair my vision, my morals and my values and it is time that I prioritise what really matters.”
He said he had also been taking medication to treat mental health issues and had been experiencing “hell” for years because of his problems with “drugs and narcotics”.
Taylor played 34 Tests, 205 one-day internationals and 45 T20 games for Zimbabwe over a 17-year career from 2004-2021, although he took a three-year sabbatical from internationals in 2015 to play county cricket in England.
He was captain from 2011 up until he left for England.
Taylor is one of Zimbabwe’s best players and is fourth on the list of the country’s top run-scorers in Test cricket.
His admission comes nearly a year after former Zimbabwe coach Heath Streak was banned from all cricket for eight years for breaching cricket’s anti-corruption code.
Streak was suspended because of his relationship with an Indian businessman who sought inside information for illegal betting purposes and bribed Streak with gifts including Bitcoin and an iPhone for his wife.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
If so, he must be the only batter who goes at well under 30 against good Test teams and away from home and is judged better than the likes of Stokes. Has averaged 33 in the County Championship batting 4 and 5, so hope you’ll forgive me if I remain sceptical. I’ve seen a bit of him too, but it’s not what you look like, it’s the results you achieve.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
He is no victim . No sympathy from me .
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Probable. Much of the population (particularly under 40) use substances classified as “illicit”.
liquorbox_
Roar Rookie
It would depend on how the information was given. eg, if you told the bookie "gee the pitch and weather really make it look like we will lose this game" or "the pitch markings are a bit strange, wouldn't surprise me if I bowl 3 no balls today" may not be match fixing but are just as bad. We will never know the truth of what occurred but why should they be given the benefit of the doubt? If theres smoke........
liquorbox_
Roar Rookie
Is it possible that other players had substance issues? It would seem that a masking agent worthy of a ban may be able to cover up other drug use that could put a player in a similar position where they take money from dodgy people but assure the public they never fixed games. There was a famous case where according to SMH "the Australian Sports Drug Agency and the Australian Sports Drug Laboratory in Pymble, which discovered the diuretics hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride and the presence of OTHER drugs (but which were below the thresholds that would have triggered other charges)".
Micko
Roar Rookie
Apparently Dennis Lillee & Rod Marsh put money on Australia to lose at long odds…in the very test they were playing in! :shocked: (Australia ended up LOSING the test too!)
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Not sure it’s the same. Seems clear his coke habit became easily known to those who could use it against him to extort compliance. I don’t think money was an issue - the small money on offer was just further insurance on top for the bookies to try and lock in the outcome he wanted. To his credit, he refused.
Targa
Roar Rookie
I've seen him bat. Forget the averages, but he is better than Stokes and Bairstow.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Yes on the sad story. No on being the second best bat in England. A good example of Test averages deceiving if you dont look who he played against. A decent average thanks to lots of Tests and runs against Bangladesh. Did Ok in a few matches vs NZ and SL but poor against the rest, and no matches vs Australia or England. Averages 26 outside Zim. Perhaps a better bet for keeper than the Buttlers and Bairstows? but I don’t know his keeping.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
People constantly cite that (probably because of a distaste for Warne and Waugh). Giving pitch and weather information was never a crime. That info is/was available to everyone in the world. It is never a secret. Betting on a match is cheating.
liquorbox_
Roar Rookie
Warne and Mark Waugh accepted between $2500 and $15000 to "supply information on match conditions and team selection" from an Indian Bookie. Luckily as Australian players we can feel safe that they would not be cheats. lol
Targa
Roar Rookie
Real shame. Very sad story. Absolutely top quality player. If he was English he would've played 100+ tests, get paid huge money, and be their 2nd best bat behind Root. Quality ODI player too - was a real star in the 2015 World Cup. Hope he can get help with his rehab.
Linphoma
Guest
I believe him. All so sad. As a player of International standing, to be flown and accommodated for this purported business trip, you should have had your guard up. I was an influential IT journalist for a number of years and was sponsored on trips overseas and the risk of compromising yourself is great, but that is when you have your guard up even more.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Very sad. A lousy 15 grand.
jameswm
Roar Guru
The guy was gullible and naive and it's the old story - if it looks too good to be true, it usually is. However I do have sympathy for the player.
JamesH
Roar Guru
To be honest it doesn't sound like Taylor was particularly tempted to ruin his career for $15k either, but had backed himself into a no-win situation because of his personal issues. Evil people leveraged the weakness of a flawed man. 'Sad' is a very apt description. Hopefully he gets the help he needs to move forward.
Craig
Guest
Totally agree with the second point, the level of pay for players outside the top three nations is the main issue facing the game and it needs to be addressed by the ICC. Taking an extraordinary step, such as handling match payments for all test matches could help.
Paul
Roar Guru
You're dead right with your first paragraph but not sure about the second one. This incident highlights the lengths match fixers will go to ensnare someone. In Taylor's case, the used cocaine, but I'm sure with other cricketers, it could be any one of a range of things, drugs, sex, booze, etc. What they're after is some form of control over the cricketer and I'd imagine it would not be hard to snare an unsuspecting player. Look at how many people are conned out of money every day just in Australia. This is similar. He trusted someone he shouldn't have.
Tempo
Roar Rookie
Such a sad story. Brendan has done the wrong thing here and banning him was the only option. But the income disparity between cricket playing nations clearly provides fertile grounds for a player with personal or financial problems to be played on by match-fixers. No top level Indian, English or Australian player is going to be tempted to ruin their career/life for the sake of $15k. Improving the financial health of smaller nations would help mitigate against these sort of approaches (noting the similarities to the Heath Streak situation too).