Tatenda Taibu      

Barely five foot tall and light on his feet, Tatenda Taibu is a throwback to the traditional style of wicketkeeper, and his importance to Zimbabwean cricket was underlined when he was named as vice-captain for the tour of England in 2003, when only 19 years old. Earmarked as the long-term successor to club colleague Andy Flower, Taibu was plucked from Churchill Boys High School to tour the West Indies in 1999-00, after impressing onlookers with his natural ability. Three months later he was in England, on stand-by at Trent Bridge after injury put Flower's dual role in doubt. He had yet to play domestic first-class cricket at this stage - his debut for Mashonaland had to be put on hold ...

Barely five foot tall and light on his feet, Tatenda Taibu is a throwback to the traditional style of wicketkeeper, and his importance to Zimbabwean cricket was underlined when he was named as vice-captain for the tour of England in 2003, when only 19 years old. Earmarked as the long-term successor to club colleague Andy Flower, Taibu was plucked from Churchill Boys High School to tour the West Indies in 1999-00, after impressing onlookers with his natural ability. Three months later he was in England, on stand-by at Trent Bridge after injury put Flower's dual role in doubt. He had yet to play domestic first-class cricket at this stage - his debut for Mashonaland had to be put on hold after he turned up at the wrong ground - but he has toured South Africa with the Zimbabwe U-19s, and was one of Zimbabwe's few bright spots in the 2003 World Cup and their tour to England later that year. A promising batsman, albeit with a penchant for cross-batted strokes, he is steadily improving at Test and ODI level.

In April 2004, he was appointed captain of Zimbabwe following the resignation of Heath Streak, and he led a woefully inexperienced by example in the face of repeated heavy defeats. But the pressure began to tell, and by the autumn of 2005 he found himself at the front of another players revolt, this time widely backed and against the general mismanagement of the board. It led to him being villified in the domestic press and threatened by some unsavoury elements connected to the board itself, and in November 2005 he announced his resignation as captain and his retirement from international cricket. Of all the high-profile departures from the game in Zimbabwe, none were felt so deeply as Taibu - a home-grown product, a world-class wicketkeeper-batsman, and the country's first black captain.

After spells in Bangladesh and England, he moved to South Africa later in 2006 and made clear his intention to sit out the four-year qualification to try to play international cricket for them. But it didn't work out, and to more than a few raised eyebrows he reappeared in Zimbabwe colours in mid 2007.
Steven Price July 2007