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BRIGHTON & HOVE. — Eastbourne College’s Zimbabwean Sixth Former, Tawanda Muyeye, recently joined an exclusive list as the Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year in England.

The announcement means Muyeye is the 13th winner of the title.

Muyeye’s accolade comes as no surprise to Eastbournians who have witnessed him play.

He ended the 2019 season on a high, breaking two longstanding school records, and collecting his school’s coveted Simon Green Cup for Endeavour award.

The 2020 edition of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack — which was published on April 9 — said:

“He is a player of immense presence, a batsman destined to empty bars. People in the know at Eastbourne (College) have learned to ask when he will next be playing, so they can feast on his style, which shows the aggressive influence of Viv Richards and Kevin Pietersen, two of his idols.

“Like them, he intimidates the attack, turning respectable bowlers into fodder for his swinging bat. Muyeye, a popular, hard-working, self-effacing student who hails from just outside Harare, is on a sports scholarship.

“Rob Ferley, his coach at Eastbourne (College), says he is also the best off-spinner of his age-group in the county, as well as an electric fielder with exceptional hand-eye co-ordination.

“But it is the reliability of his fast, wristy run-scoring that has given Sussex cause to be interested in his development, and makes him such an exciting prospect.”

A statement from the College added: “Tawanda Muyeye is the epitome of hard work, effort, humility and kindness.

“The qualities of endeavour have helped him in breaking two longstanding school records; the first pupil ever in 150 years of cricket to score two double hundred and the all-time run scoring record in one season.”

At 7.30am on any given matchday during the summer term, Muyeye won’t be alongside his Eastbourne College peers at breakfast.

Neither will he still be lying in bed back in Gonville, his boarding house.

Instead, he will be in the gym doing yoga, stretching ahead of the afternoon’s fixture. And Muyeye considers this a lie-in.

You would be forgiven for thinking that the life of a school cricketer is worlds away from the professional game.

Naturally, cricket is only part of the school experience, sharing the spotlight with academic endeavours and all the other sports and activities on offer.

But for Muyeye, cricket is everything.

It is the reason he came to Eastbourne aged 16, it is the reason he trains throughout the winter, it is the reason he is up for these early morning sessions.

It is followed by a team breakfast, then a warm-up, featuring the customary game of football. “I’m not great at football, but I have been known to bring out my inner Wayne Rooney sometimes!” Muyeye tells The Cricketer.

Now 18, he is in his final year at the college, and can already look back on his school career with immense satisfaction. In the summer of 2019, when in Year 12, Muyeye scored 1 112 runs — a record for the 150-year-old school — and hit 56 sixes, another record.

And against Brighton College last May, Muyeye scored his second school double-century — off only 135 balls.

No other player has ever hit more than one double hundred for the school and Eastbourne’s total of 402 for four off 50 overs was their highest ever total. The young Zimbabwean is shattering more than a century of records almost single-handedly.

“I was so happy with how the summer went because I had worked hard the previous winter,” he reflects.

“I had a pretty good season the year before, scoring 900 runs averaging around 50, but there were still parts of my game that I wasn’t happy about.”

Eastbourne’s coaching staff is headed by former Kent spinner Rob Ferley, who is accompanied by one-time England captain, James Tredwell, and ex-Yorkshire wicketkeeper Andy Hodd.

These are three men who know the county circuit inside out and understand what is required to break into the professional game.

And, for them, cricket is a year-round job.

“Last winter I was in the nets every single day, morning and night,” Muyeye adds. “It was so good to work with Mr Ferley and Mr Tredwell. I remember watching Mr Tredwell on TV; the best thing about him is that he backs our abilities, he will always assure me that I am good enough.

“He gives so much feedback and guides us, which is amazing to hear from someone who has played at the very top level of the game. He knows exactly what it takes to be a successful cricketer.”

Muyeye’s journey to the south coast began in very different surroundings of Zimbabwe.

“I grew up on a farm and my brother got me into cricket because he always made me throw balls at him.

‘‘I played for my provincial team and captained Zimbabwe at Under-13 and Under-16 level but I have always wanted to play county cricket. A family friend was at Eastbourne so I wrote to them and luckily they gave me a scholarship.”

Since arriving in England, he has scarcely looked back. He was immediately drafted into the school first team, playing with boys two years his senior and has since been part of the Sussex set-up.

But the batsman, who also bowls off-spin, is realistic about his future and what it might hold.

“Of course, I want to become a professional cricketer but you can’t do that forever and my parents have always said that I need a back-up,” he says.

“I want to go to Loughborough University and get a degree. Hopefully, I can play lots of cricket while I’m there but after that we’ll see.”

For now, however, Muyeye’s main focus is on school matters.

The immediate concern is packing for Eastbourne’s half-term tour of Sri Lanka.

Muyeye has set himself a very high bar.

Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year

2007: J. M. Bairstow (St Peter’s School, York, Yorkshire & England)

2008: J. W. A. Taylor (Shrewsbury School, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire & England)

2009: J. C. Buttler (King’s College, Taunton, Somerset, Lancashire & England)

2010: W. G. R. Vanderspar (Eton College & Middlesex)

2011: D. J. Bell-Drummond (Millfield School & Kent)

2012: T. B. Abell (Taunton School & Somerset)

2013: T. Köhler-Cadmore (Malvern College, Worcestershire & Yorkshire)

2014: D. E. Budge (Woodhouse Grove School & Durham)

2015: B. A. Waring (Felsted School & Essex)

2016: A. J. Woodland (St Edward’s School)

2017: E. T. D Casterton (RGS, High Wycombe)

2018: N. J. Tilley (Reed’s School)

2019: T. S. Muyeye (Eastbourne College) — The Independent