Newsday
By Daniel Nhakaniso
29 November 2011
National cricket team captain Brendan Taylor — who walked away with two awards at the annual CBZ Cricket Awards on monday night — dedicated the accolades to his teammates.
The high-scoring Taylor shone during the year under review with outstanding performances since taking over the captaincy from Elton Chigumbura.
He was deservedly named the country’s cricketer and batsman of the year.
“It was a great honour to receive the two awards. It’s nice to be recognised, but I think the awards are a reflection on how well the team has done this year.
“Everything I managed to accomplish would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the support from my teammates.
“The whole team put in a fantastic effort. From here we can only keep improving. We beat New Zealand on the ODIs (one-day-internationals) and we were almost within the touching distance of a victory in Test match. I believe when we tour there next year we will be capable of beating them,†said Taylor.
Zimbabwe is scheduled to tour New Zealand in January where Taylor would lead Zimbabwe’s quest for glory against their more fancied opponents.
Taylor was the stand-out player in Zimbabwe’s triumphant return to Test cricket, scoring a magnificent century on his debut as captain during the win against Bangladesh.
He scored two hundreds in three Tests this year and also became the first Zimbabwean to score back-to-back ODI centuries — against New Zealand in September.
The New Zealand tour was particularly the best for him where he scored two centuries in the three- match ODI series to end on 310, the highest by any batsman in a three-match series.
This season he has averaged 49,53 in 17 ODIs so far and his performances earned him a contract with Wellington to play in New Zealand’s HRV Cup.
Taylor took Zimbabwe Cricket’s top prize ahead of fellow short-list nominees Vusi Sibanda and Malcolm Waller.
The glittering ceremony was attended by various stakeholders in local cricket including the of Education Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart guest of honour American Ambassador Charles Ray, who delivered a motivational speech and Zimbabwe Cricket president Peter Chingoka.
Zimbabwe Cricket sponsors Croco Motors, South African Airways, Interfin Bank, Coca-Cola, Castle Lager and Afdis were also represented.