Former Chevrons skipper Brendon Taylor has said talent is not enough to perform at international level urging Zimbabwe Cricket players to put in the ‘extra’ work if the country is to improve and win consistently.

In an interview with SportsZone, (see this week’s Sunday Mail edition for the full story) Taylor, who is in the country for his County Cricket off season said he personally has realized the importance of hard work.

"We talk about talent all the time; Zimbabwe has talent it's about now combining the talent with hard work.

"With Zimbabwe ranked 10 (in Tests) in the world we need to do more than other teams really," he said

The 30-year-old quit international cricket during the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2014 to take up a three year Kolpak deal with English County side, Nottinghamshire.

He revealed his secret to a fruitful World Cup campaign which saw him amass 433 runs at 72.16.

“Yeah I would hit balls before the day’s match.

"I felt if I could do more being a captain you need to lead from the front.

"I felt if I did the work leading into the game I would be confident in my preparation to go out there and perform.

"I wish I had those years back," he said.

Taylor also hailed the incumbent captain Graeme Cremer who scored a valiant hundred to lead Zimbabwe’s fight back in the Test match loss against Sri Lanka.

“He has been a very good friend of mine for a long time and the way he left cricket for 18 months to take up golf and start up a family business and comeback from that and really train hard.

“I know he has been very professional with his comeback, he has certainly grabbed this opportunity to captain and he led from the front, that’s what a good captain should do.

“The way he batted was the way a top three batter bats that’s very encouraging I am sure players can learn from that,” said Taylor.

He has also been impressed by new comer, pace bowler, Carl Mumba and PJ Moor who is batting well.

“There is PJ and Carl Mumba, he is exciting to watch, they good youngsters coming through, there is no secret to getting some scores  that guy works hard he is very committed to the game of cricket.

“With guys like Makhaya Ntini, Heath Streak and Lance Klusener, these guys are proven performers and they certainly put in the work, our guys know that and I am sure they are not shy to do the work,” he said.

Taylor also talked about his season with Nottinghamshire.

“The season with Notts has been a disappointing one; the four day competition unfortunately a big club like Notts has been relegated to Division Two.

“I need to focus on this next season so I have to get myself ready for that and see what lies ahead.

“But we were competitive in the T20 and One Day format we made the semi-final and quarter final.

“Personally I have a lot of positive changes to my technique, it has been very difficult to become accustomed to (the conditions),” he said.