Taylor was less than impressed with Vermeulen’s comments about the national team
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Former Zimbabwe batsman Mark Vermeulen and ex-captain Brendan Taylor got involved in a heated spat on Facebook following the national team’s recent 3-2 loss to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan won the first two games of the ODI series before Zimbabwe came roaring back to win the next two and ensure the fifth and final match would be a decider.
But, they were humiliated in the final game after Afghanistan bowled them out for 54 to win the series.
Despite Zimbabwe’s disappointing performance, Taylor came to the defence of the national team, saying: “Ex players and commentators always sit back and chip away because it’s easy watching from the comfort of their homes or from a commentary box but forget how tough it can be in the middle.”
Vermeulen, however, did not agree with Taylor’s views, and replied: “I can’t believe you are supporting a pathetic effort by our national team. If I was in the team that was bowled out for 54 I would be totally embarrassed and would just shut the f*** up and get in the nets instead of posting f***ing sh** like this.”
Responding to Vermeulen’s scathing criticism, Taylor wrote: “Here we go! Coming from someone who is chemically imbalanced…You my friend are what a true embarrassment looks like.
“Take a look in the mirror on what you have done for yourself and your country, apart from burning down one of the few establishments we had.”
Taylor’s remark about “burning down one of the few establishments we had” was in reference to the incident where Vermeulen set Zimbabwe’s cricket academy on fire in 2006 after he was overlooked for the national team.
Vermeulen was acquitted of arson in 2008 as he was deemed to be suffering from psychiatric problems after being struck on the head during a match against India in Australia in 2004.
Taylor also took to Twitter to share his thoughts on Vermeulen.
In 2015, Vermeulen was banned from playing cricket in Zimbabwe for 37 years for his comments on a Facebook post written by Prosper Utseya.
Pretty embarrassing stuff from Taylor. Would think that a 31-year-old ex-captain of his country could show somebody that’s suffered from mental health issues and who is passionate about his country’s cricket team a bit more respect!