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Batsman Tawanda Muyeye will have no issues with whatever role Kent’s hierarchy ask him to play at the start of this season.
Muyeye is looking to have a big 2024 after he was named Kent’s emerging player-of-the-year last term, as he hit his maiden first-class century against Northamptonshire in June.
He returned to Kent’s first-team ranks after he had racked up a glut of second-team runs.
With head coach Matt Walker having options at the top of the order, with the possibility of England opener Zak Crawley being available for chunks of the campaign, Muyeye has no qualms about dropping down the order for the first team - or even returning to the 2nds.
“Whatever the captain and the coach feels is best, I will do that,” he said. “I couldn’t care less where I bat.
“Even if I start back in the 2nds again, you just have to earn your position.
“If I have to do that again this year, I’m happy to do it. I’m not really stressed about it. I’ll take it as it comes.”
Muyeye was part of a small crop of Kent’s first-team squad who had a spell training in Mumbai, India, ahead of the new season.
He revealed: “I wasn’t going to go at one point but I was very grateful and very thankful that I was able to go.
“It was so productive! We went with our new batting coach Toby (Radford).
“We always get coached how to play spin in England where it doesn’t really turn much so, to go over to India where it does turn and you have to grasp the fundamentals of playing against spin, that was a massive thing, especially as a young player.
“Every summer you want to come back a better player, evolve and that was a massive thing for my game.
“I think being able to bat for hours and hours - having to really concentrate and keep learning, whether you are tired or not - that was really good.”
Muyeye feels he’s already taking a lot from working with new batting coach Toby Radford, a man who has held a similar position with the West Indies’ national side and been a head coach at Middlesex and Glamorgan.
“He definitely knows a lot of us pretty well,” Muyeye said. “I think he’s a bit of a batting genius!
“I’ve loved working with him so far and, hopefully, he can help to take my game further.
“A massive thing with a batting coach is getting someone that you can trust and I feel like I can trust him.
“I feel like the things he’s going to teach me are going to add to my game.
“As a sportsman, you have to be able to take criticism, take all the feedback and just learn as quickly as possible.
“I think that’s what we should all do as professional athletes - try to get better and try to listen.
“We all have this thing where, when someone new enters the building, we tense up.
“But you just have to free yourself and open your mind.”
Muyeye admitted fellow batsman Daniel Bell-Drummond had been a popular choice as Kent’s new club captain. He replaces Sam Billings, albeit wicketkeeper Billings will still be Spitfires’ T20 Blast skipper.
He said: “Deebs is very well-respected. Obviously, his record speaks for itself.
“He has been here since he was seven and you cannot dispute that he deserves the opportunity that’s come his way. It’s exciting stuff for all of us.
“Deebs is a lovely leader - he leads by example - and provides something to follow.”
While 23-year-old Muyeye could follow in Bell-Drummond’s footsteps somewhere down the line as a skipper, it’s not something he has thought much about yet.
“I just want to focus on my batting,” he stated.
“You can never say never - but as a young player, personally, I don’t want to look too far ahead.
“At this present time being a 23-year-old, it’s probably the last thing I want to do! But you never know in the future.”