Veteran Zimbabwe batter and former captain Brendan Taylor made a successful comeback to international cricket after four years on Thursday as he opened the batting for the hosts at the Queen Sports Club in Bulawayo in the second Test against New Zealand.
Marking his first match since 2021, following which he served a three-and-a-half-year ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on corruption charges, Taylor broke several records in terms of longevity. Taylor is now the earliest Test debutant among active cricketers, having played his maiden Test against Sri Lanka in Harare.
Appearing in his 35th Test, Taylor surpassed England pace legend James Anderson for the longest Test career (in terms of years) among all cricketers who have debuted in the 21st century. Since 1989, only India legend Sachin Tendulkar has recorded a longer Test career than Taylor, having appeared in 200 Test spanning across 24 years and 1 day.
Longest Test careers
| Player | Team | From | To | Span | Comments | |
| Wilfred Rhodes | England | June 1, 1899 | April 12, 1930 | 30 years 315 days | WW1 interruption | |
| Brian Close | England | July 23, 1949 | July 13, 1976 | |||
| Frank Woolley | England | August 9, 1909 | August 22, 1934 | 25 years 13 days | WW1 interruption | |
| George Headley | West Indies | January 11, 1930 | January 21, 1954 | 24 years 10 days | WW2 interruption | |
| Sachin Tendulkar | India | November 15, 1989 | November 16, 2013 | |||
| John Traicos | South Africa/Zimbabwe | February 5, 1970 | March 17, 1993 | 23 years 40 days | Nationality swap after apartheid ban | |
| Jack Hobbs | England | January 1, 1908 | August 22, 1930 | 22 years 233 days | WW1 interruption | |
| George Gunn | England | December 13, 1907 | April 12, 1930 | 22 years 120 days | WW1 interruption | |
| Syd Gregory | Australia | July 21, 1890 | August 22, 1912 | |||
| Freddie Brown | England | July 29, 1931 | June 30, 1953 | 21 years 336 days | WW2 interruption | |
| Dave Nourse | South Africa | October 11, 1902 | August 19, 1924 | 21 years 313 days | WW1 interruption | |
| Zimbabwe | May 6, 2004 | August 7, 2025 | 21 years 93 days | Served ban for corruption | ||
| James Anderson | England | May 22, 2003 | July 12, 2024 | |||
| Shivnarine Chanderpaul | West Indies | March 17, 1994 | May 3, 2015 | |||
| Imran Khan | Pakistan | June 3, 1971 | January 7, 1992 | |||
| Bobby Simpson | Australia | December 23, 1957 | May 3, 1978 | 20 years 131 days | Recalled from retirement | |
| Colin Cowdrey | England | November 26, 1954 | February 13, 1975 | 20 years 79 days | Recalled from retirement | |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | Bangladesh | May 26, 2005 | June 28, 2025 | |||
| Garry Sobers | West Indies | March 30, 1954 | April 5, 1974 | |||
| Mushtaq Mohammad | Pakistan | March 26, 1959 | March 29, 1979 | |||
Opening the batting for the first time since 2005, Taylor registered his first runs with a boundary off New Zealand seamer Jacob Duffy after the hosts opted to bat first.
