Asylum seeker from Zimbabwe Tawanda Muyeye hopes to play cricket for England

Seven years ago, his family left Zimbabwe due to political unrest, seeking a better life in England. “England has been good to us — my family and myself. I don’t think there’s any better place in the world to be than London in the summer.”

At Kent, Paul Downtown, former England player and director of cricket at the county, played a mentorship role to the youngster. ““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,” Tawanda told the UK newspaper.

Tawanda Muyeye. Remember the name 📝#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/9XWqr7Cdkb

— The Hundred (@thehundred) August 9, 2025

The story goes that he wasn’t always so interested in cricket, as he played other sports like rugby, hockey, athletics. ““I wanted to give up cricket when I was maybe 15. Loads of my mates played other sports and cricket was just getting a bit boring for me.”

Oval Invincibles’s coach Tom Moody too has been impressed with him, and has had him opening with England batsman Will Jacks in the five games he has played – he has scored 124 runs with a fifty. In the last season, Tawanda was just an occasional back-up batsman for the team.

“Any time a coach backs you, it gives you confidence and allows you to be yourself. The backing I’ve gotten here has been second to none.” He is waiting for the immigration protocols to fall in place so that he can get a permanent leave to live in the UK.

“The end goal is to try to play international cricket. I want to expose myself to as much cricket as possible, in as many conditions as possible,” he told The Times.