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Robson Sharuko Senior Sports Editor
AS the first batch of the British Brigade plunged into battle for the Warriors last night, a Marondera primary school thrust itself firmly in the global spotlight as the only educational facility from outside the United Kingdom to provide some of the cricketers set to fight in the England corner on the 135th anniversary of the Ashes showdown.

Tendayi Darikwa, Kundai Benyu and Macauley Bonne started the Warriors’ friendly international against Lesotho in Maseru last night in a monumental shift in recruitment for the senior national football team where footballers, born in the UK but with links to this country, are being lured to play for the country. Admiral Muskwe, the other member of the four-member British Brigade of players born in the UK who have answered the initial call to come home for national duty, was introduced in the second half, in the 0-1 defeat for the Warriors, but the highly-rated Leicester City teenager has time on his side.

The events in Lesotho are in sharp contrast to those in Australia where, this week, England turned to Tom Curran, a 22-year-old right arm fast medium bowler who also bats as a right-handed batsman, to replace the injured Steven Finn in their Ashes squad. The first Test of this 135-year-old battle between England and Australia, widely acknowledged as the greatest showdown in world cricket, is set to explode at the Gabba in Brisbane on November 23 while the fifth and final Test scheduled to start on January 4 at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney.

Springvale House, a primary school in Marondera, is standing tall and proud as the only school from outside the UK which has provided some of the cricketers who will fight for the English cause in this Ashes showdown Down Under which comes exactly 135 years after the original match at the Oval in London in 1882.

Tom is a former student at Springvale House before he moved to St George’s College in Harare but then moved to England where he is crafting a successful career which has seen him shining at county side Surrey and making his debut for England in ODI cricket. Springvale House is also the former school of former Zimbabwean rugby star Richard Tsimba, who starred at the Rugby World cup in 1987, and the country’s Olympic rowers Micheen Thonycroft and Andrew Peebles.

Tom is set to join another former Springvale House pupil in the current England squad, batsman Gary Ballance, who was born in Harare and went to the Marondera school before enrolling at Peterhouse Boys’ School and representing this country at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2006 in Bangladesh. That Zimbabwean side finished sixth at that tournament and featured a number of players who have transformed themselves into key members of the Chevrons, including current skipper Graeme Cremer, all-rounder Sean Williams and Chamu Chibhabha.

While Cremer, Williams and Chibhabha remained in the trenches of their home nation, Ballance moved to England and has forced his way back into the English team for this Ashes showdown despite criticism from a number of influential voices in the game in that country who feel he has struggled to adapt to the international level. Prior to his latest recall into the England squad, Ballance had scored 815 runs in eight County Championship matches for Yorkshire this season at an average of 101.87, with three centuries and four fifties.

Ballance is related to former Zimbabwe captain Dave Houghton while Tom is the son of former Zimbabwe international cricketer Kevin Curran, who top-scored for this country at the 1982 ICC Trophy in England with 276 runs in seven innings, as the Zimbabweans won the tournament to qualify for the 1983 ICC Cricket World Cup. Kevin coached the Chevrons for two years between 2005 and 2007 but died suddenly at the age of 53 on October 10, 2012, after having collapsed while jogging in Mutare at a time when he was the head of the Zimbabwe Cricket Academy.

The duo of Ballance and Tom are the only cricketers in the current English squad, which is in Australia for this special Ashes showdown, born outside England and their inclusion once again shows the immense value which Zimbabwe cricket continues to provide to English cricket which in the past has included:

l Duncan Fletcher, who captained Zimbabwe at the country’s first ICC Cricket World Cup appearance in England in 1983, providing the coaching expertise which helped England end 18 years of waiting for a Test success when they beat Australia in 2005.

l Fletcher, a former Prince Edward Schoolboy, who never played Test cricket in his career, was the head coach of the English cricket team when they powered to that monumental 2-1 triumph over the Aussies in 2005 which ended 18 years of pain.

l Andy Flower, another former Zimbabwe captain, became the first coach to guide England to Ashes success in Australia in 24 years after his side powered to a 3-1 win Down Under, with the last England team to have done that being Mike Gatting’s team of 1986/1987.

l Flower, who was named the 2011 Coach of the Year in the UK, then masterminded another landmark success story over the Aussies when he led England to a 3-0 Ashes victory in the July to August 2013 series in England.

Tom is set to battle to be the 62nd overseas-born players from 15 countries — including the likes of Peru, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, New Zealand, West Indies, Pakistan, Australia, Denmark, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Papua New Guinea — to have played Test cricket for England. The Ashes is an historical battle between England and Australia that started at the Oval in 1882 when the English, astonished at their first home defeat at the hands of their rivals when last man Ted Peate, was bowled out for just two when 10 runs were needed for victory, went into a soul-searching exercise.

The Sporting Times newspaper actually put out a death notice which read, ‘’In Affectionate Remembrance of ENGLISH CRICKET, which died at the Oval on 29 August 1882, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances, R.I.P, N.B.— the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.’’

The Ashes legend was born and, 135 years, two cricketers with Zimbabwean heritage — from a Marondera primary school — are part of the English invasion for this iconic showdown.