Tawanda Muyeye makes Wisden history

Teenage Tawanda Muyeye is the first ever Zimbabwean to be named Wisden School Cricketer of the Year.

He won the award which runs back to 2007.

Although a part of the Steve Mangongo-coached squad as a reserve the Eastbourne College youngster has his sights set on playing for Sussex and qualifying for England. That said, no winner of the award had achieved the since 2009. Winners before that, Jonny Bairstow, James Taylor and Jos Butler have gone onto play international cricket.

Muyeye was a sensation when he last played at the St Georges T20 tournament scoring an unbeaten 163 for Peterhouse against ST John’s in 2017.

At school level in the UK he scored two double centuries in two years.

Debate is rife that the youngster who came through the Zimbabwe schook systems could be another one lost but it is a complicated one. If a career path to playing in The Ashes were to open to him, one would be hard-pressed to begrudge him the opportunity. The loss of talent to bigger nations based on how the game has been set ho not unique to Zimbabwe. The Windies recently lost Jofra Archer to England while South Africa’s recent woes can be linked to the mass exodus of developed talent including full internationals to county cricket.

Muyeye is a special talent indeed and deserves his accolades and for this we applaud him.