Brendan Taylor recoils as he recalls the moment he was trapped. The moment that changed his life and effectively ended his career.
'It was a paralysing fear,' Taylor, 35, tells Sportsmail via video link from Harare, of being informed in October 2019 that he had been recruited by spot-fixers who he believed to be businessmen intent on sponsorships, organising a T20 tournament in his native Zimbabwe and investing in a cricket academy.
What they were really interested in was getting their hooks into one of cricket's flawed characters.
A brilliant batsman - of his compatriots only Andy Flower with 18 has managed more than Taylor's 17 international hundreds. A family man too. But one who has fought and concealed addictions throughout a 19-year career.
Brendan Taylor celebrates with the T20 Blast trophy in 2017 after Notts beat Birmingham
Taylor's susceptibility to booze binges revealed itself during three seasons as a Kolpak cricketer with Nottinghamshire between 2015 and 2017 when, after a big night out with his team-mates following a cup win over Durham, he was discovered asleep in a stranger's car one morning by the owner and a police officer.
Exploiting his liking of a good time, the men who had paid him $15,000 to travel, entertained him for three days, bought him a new mobile phone and provided him with clothes, then threw a farewell party on the final evening which featured alcohol and cocaine.
Taylor 'foolishly took the bait' and next morning faced a dilemma after his new associates accompanied by their heavies stormed his New Delhi hotel room and showed him video footage of the shenanigans, laced with the threat of making it public if he did not help orchestrate pre-destined events in matches - a practice commonly known as spot-fixing.
Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor faces a suspension after an alleged blackmail plot
'Two bigger guys were always lurking, circling me. It felt very claustrophobic around my personal space. I was scared for my own safety. I'd fallen for it. I'd willingly walked into a situation that has changed my life for ever,' he says.
'At that time Zimbabwe was under suspension from the ICC for government interference and I didn't have an income coming in. I was six months with no salary, there were rumours we wouldn't be allowed to play for two years, and all I was trying to do was put food on the table. Prepare for life after playing.
'That's why I went. I'd told them on numerous occasions that if there was any skulduggery, they shouldn't waste time in getting me over there. That I was not wired that way.'
Taylor, who is to be hit with a three-and-a-half-year ban by the International Cricket Council, was handed the agreed fee and told to consider it a deposit, with the rest of $20,000 to be paid once the 'job' was complete.
