Tawanda Muyeye: asylum seeker from Zimbabwe and on England's radar

Times

15 hours ago

Tawanda Muyeye left the country of his birth aged 17 with his mother and younger brother, seeking asylum in the UK after political unrest and economic turmoil made life in Zimbabwe increasingly precarious. Seven years on, he is dreaming of playing international cricket for England.
The talented young opening batsman is making his mark in county cricket for Kent and the Hundred with Oval Invincibles. Although there haven't yet been any formal conversations with the England management, they are clearly keeping an eye on him and have made inquiries about his plans to get permanent leave to remain in this country. Muyeye, 24, will have fulfilled the four -year residency requirements to allow him to play for England in early 2027.
Muyeye is an impressive, articulate young man — and he makes no bones about his ambitions.
'I want to play international cricket. That is my goal and dream,' he says.
But it wasn't always that way. Born in Harare, Muyeye spent his early years playing multiple sports at boarding school — rugby, hockey, athletics — and for a time, cricket almost slipped from his grasp. 'I wanted to give up cricket when I was maybe 15,' he says. 'Loads of my mates played other sports and cricket was just getting a bit boring for me.'
That might have been the end of his cricketing story had it not been for his school coach Ian Tinker, who pushed him into Zimbabwe's under-19 setup and 'reignited the flame'. But his family's life in Zimbabwe was becoming untenable. Political instability and limited opportunities pushed them to seek a new start in England.
'England has been good to us — my family and myself,' he says. 'I don't think there's any better place in the world to be than London in the summer.'
At 17, he enrolled at Eastbourne College, where his cricket blossomed. He was named Wisden's schools cricketer of the year in 2020 and attracted the attention of counties, making his first-class debut for Kent in 2021.
He credits Paul Downton, then Kent's director of cricket, for a decisive role in his career. 'I always say that I owe so much to him and to Kent,' Muyeye says. 'When someone backs you and gives you that clarity, you obviously want to repay them.' That loyalty is part of why he recently signed a contract extension with Kent despite attention from a number of other counties.
'I didn't want to leave just as I was starting to show what I'm capable of,' he says. 'I feel like I'm starting to know myself a bit better, there's still room for improvement but I am just starting to show Kent what I can do.'
There was never any question about Muyeye's natural talent but this has been something of a breakout year for him. He has scored more than 1,100 runs across all formats for Kent this season including being the second-highest runscorer in the T20 Blast this summer, as well as accruing 616 County Championship runs.
In the Hundred he has scored 124 runs in five matches with one fifty. Tom Moody, the head coach of the Oval Invincibles, has made it clear he sees Muyeye as a first-choice opener to partner England batsman Will Jacks having been mostly just a back-up batsman last summer, a gesture the youngster doesn't take lightly. 'Any time a coach backs you, it gives you confidence and allows you to be yourself,' he says. 'The backing I've gotten here has been second to none.'
He contrasts this with his first two seasons in the competition, when he played only five matches in total across both years. 'I was kind of a stopgap when someone was injured. But I never got frustrated — every time I walked away, I felt like a better player.'
His standout performance for the Invincibles came on August 9 in their nine-wicket thrashing of Manchester Originals in which he battered 59 off 28 balls to set up the win. The experience has given him a taste of what it is like on the big stage — interviews, autograph requests, big crowds.
'That was so different for me. It almost felt like the spotlight was on you — it was a bit weird,' he says. 'But it was good fun. There are only a few of us in the squad who haven't played international cricket, so the people you are playing and training with every day, you have no choice but to get better and to get towards their level.
'This [The Hundred] is the closest I can get to international cricket at the moment for obvious reasons. I am using it to try to improve my game so that when other opportunities arise, I can take them.'
Muyeye speaks with the poise of someone who has had to grow up quickly — he is articulate, thoughtful and grounded in a deep gratitude for the opportunities he has been granted.
Immigration paperwork remains a practical hurdle but he is hoping to secure permanent leave to remain in the UK soon and then wants to play some franchise cricket overseas during the winter.
'The end goal is to try to play international cricket,' he says. 'I want to expose myself to as much cricket as possible, in as many conditions as possible.'
For all his success in white-ball cricket this summer, Muyeye's heart lies in the longer form. 'I love four-day cricket, but it drives me insane sometimes,' he says with a laugh. 'I want to play Test cricket. That's the hardest cricket you can play. If you can get through that, you can get through anything.' He relishes the grind: 'If you get a hundred off 200 balls, the comfort you feel — it tests you mentally, physically, everything.'
There is a clear approach to his batting combining classic techniques entrenched from his youth with smooth, attacking strokeplay — backed up by bright mind, and resilience forged through the changes and challenges of uprooting to a new country.
He is already forging a clear path in English cricket. The next steps — in county whites, franchise colours, and perhaps one day wearing the England badge — will no doubt be taken with the same steely conviction.