Cricket’s Seedy Underbelly Again Haunts The Sport After Brendan Taylor’s Corruption Scandal

Despite its staid connotations, cricket has often been dogged by damaging scandals and tainted by the scourge of corruption.

The sport’s seedy underbelly has reared again after former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor was banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) from all forms of cricket for three and a half years.

With the ICC on the cusp of making an announcement, the 35-year-old went on the front foot and admitted on social media earlier in the week that he had taken cocaine and accepted a $15,000 “deposit” to engage in spot-fixing.

It’s a sorry saga that has shades of cricket’s worst scandals during the heyday for match-fixers in the 1990s. Taylor, who retired from international cricket in September, said that in late October 2019 he was approached by an Indian businessman to visit India to discuss “sponsorship and the potential launch of a T20 competition in Zimbabwe”.

In another cautionary tale for the sport, Taylor underlined why cricketers from financially struggling top tier nations, such as Zimbabwe, could be vulnerable to shysters even though he claimed to have been a “little wary”.

“The timing was such that we hadn’t been paid for six months by Zimbabwe cricket and it was questionable whether Zimbabwe would be able to continue playing in the international arena, So I made the journey,” he said.

According to his version of events, Taylor then was offered cocaine which he accepted before the next day being blackmailed by the man and his associates. “(They) showed me a video taken of me the night before doing cocaine and told me that if I did not spot fix at international matches for them, the video would be released to the public,” he said.

“I was cornered. And with six of these individuals in my hotel room, I was scared for my own safety. I’d fallen for it. I’d willingly walked into a situation that has changed my life forever.”

It sure has although Taylor said he never undertook any form of match-fixing. “I may be many things but I am not a cheat,” he said.

Taylor, who represented Zimbabwe for 17 years, reported the offence to the ICC four months later. “I acknowledge this was too long of a time but I thought I could protect everyone and in particular, my family,” he said. “I approached the ICC on my own terms and I hoped that if I explained my predicament, my genuine fear for our safety and well being, that they would understand the delay.”

But the ICC were not as sympathetic knowing any leniency could set a dangerous precedent with corruption such a sensitive topic given decades of cheating scandals have chipped away at the sport’s integrity.

Taylor accepted breaching four charges of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code and, separately, one charge of the ICC’s Anti-Doping code.

“It is disappointing that a player of his experience chose not to fulfil those obligations, however he has accepted all charges, which has been reflected in the sanction,” ICC general manager integrity unit Alex Marshall said.

It’s the latest sad chapter for a sport trying to erode the scourge of corruption but it’s a continual challenge with the underworld in the subcontinent wrapping its tentacles around cricket due to its prominence in the betting market.

Many big names have been implicated over the years like former South Africa captain Hansie Cronje and the sensational Pakistan spot-fixing scandal from 2010, which both rocked the foundations of the sport for a long time.

Taylor’s scandal might not be quite at those damaging levels but it’s once again another glimpse of the temptations that can lure high-profile and even veteran cricketers.

Apart from those plying their trade for a powerhouse cricket nation or being a gun for hire on the lucrative T20 merry-go-round, it’s not a particularly lucrative livelihood.

Zimbabwe, for instance, relies on ICC funding given it has a relative pittance of a broadcast rights deal – minuscule compared to the billion dollar packages of India, England and Australia which ensure their top players are essentially millionaires.

They are also not helped by those top nations rarely playing them and preferring to play amongst themselves in lucrative bilateral series. This lack of financial incentive, of course, is not to excuse Taylor or anyone who engages amid slime but it helps shed some light to why cricketers remain in the sights of crooks.

Brendan Taylor is the latest example. And, sadly, he won’t be the last.