Former Zimbabwean cricket captain Taylor admits to taking drugs | Cricket News

Brendan Taylor says he has a multi-year ban on taking drugs, admitting bribes to fix matches.

Former Zimbabwean cricket captain Brendan Taylor explained on Monday in a tweet that he had taken cocaine and a $ 15,000 purchase from an Indian businessman to fix matches.

“The ICC (International Cricket Council) is deciding to impose a multi-year ban on my international cricket career,” he tweeted, adding that he had not fixed a match.

The 35-year-old batsman said in October 2019 that an Indian businessman had invited him to discuss “the potential sponsorships of the Zimbabwe T20 competition and that I would pay $ 15,000 for the trip.”

The invitation was that the team had not been paid for six months and that the country would not be able to continue playing internationally.

He said he was “a little careful,” but set off on his journey.

At last night’s drink, the employer and his co-workers offered him cocaine and he said he was “stupidly hooked.”

“The next morning, the same man came into my hotel room and showed me a video I had taken the night before of taking cocaine and told me that if I didn’t fix it in international matches, the video would be released to the public,” he said.

He said he was “agreed” and gave him a $ 15,000 deposit to fix the matches. He took the cash so he could fly.

It took him four months to report the crime to the ICC.

“I admit it was too long, but I thought I could protect everyone and especially my family,” he said.

He said he was ready and would “humbly” accept the ICC’s decision, “with the aim of using my story as a means of encouraging cricketers to denounce illegal approaches as soon as possible.”

But he insisted that the match would never be resolved.

‘Drugs and narcotics’

Taylor, who resigned as captain of Zimbabwe late last year, also said he would be admitted to a rehabilitation center on Tuesday to “clean up and focus on my life.”

“I owe it to myself and my family to clean up and put it first,” he said. “I let a substance control me and it harms my vision, my morals and my values ​​and it’s time to prioritize what’s really important.”

He said he was also taking medication to treat mental health problems and had been living “hell” for years because of his problems with “drugs and narcotics”.

Taylor played 34 tests, 205 one-day internationals and 45 T20 matches in Zimbabwe’s 17-year career from 2004-2021, although in 2015 he took a three-year sabbatical internationally to play cricket in England. He was captain until 2011 when he moved to England.

Taylor is one of Zimbabwe’s top players and is fourth on the country’s list of top test cricket scorers.

His approval comes almost a year after former Zimbabwean coach Heath Streak was banned from all crickets for eight years for breaking the anti-corruption code of cricket.

Streak was interrupted by searching for inside information for illegal betting and his relationship with an Indian businessman who bought Bitcoin and an iPhone with gifts including his wife.