Batsman Tawanda Muyeye reckons playing County Championship Division 2 cricket will help Kent grow as a side – but is refusing to get carried away.
It’s two red-ball wins from two fixtures under new head coach Adam Hollioake as they return to playing second-tier cricket for the first time since 2018 this summer.
Kent have already surpassed the number of County Championship victories they accumulated in a forgettable 2024 campaign, which ended in relegation from Division 1.
“Obviously, everyone wants to compete,” said Muyeye. “We found it a bit tough last year.
“But we’re a young team so we’re growing and we’re finding out ways to win with different plans, like we’ll play on different pitches – nippers, flat ones or whatever – but I think we’re growing as a team.
“Division 1 is the pinnacle for all of us because we want to play against the best teams.
“But being in Division 2 is going to help us grow and who knows what happens at the end of the year?
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“It’s a long summer so we’re taking it one game at a time.”
Kent already look well-placed to compete for an immediate Division 1 return through one of the two promotion positions, but the 24-year-old isn’t looking that far ahead yet.
“It’s just too early,” Muyeye insisted. “We’re just taking it one game at a time, giving our all every single week for the four days.
“Then I guess, when September comes, we’ll see where we’re at. But it’s small steps.”
Muyeye backed up a half-century in the victory at Northamptonshire with an unbeaten 125 in an unbroken 225-run stand with opener Ben Compton as they saw off Middlesex by eight wickets on Sunday in Canterbury.
The partnership was a third-wicket club record against Middlesex as Kent finished the match inside three days for the second straight week.
Muyeye said: “Obviously, I’ve been working a lot in terms of my game plan and mentally how I’m going to be going about my business.
“For me to be there at the end, that was a big thing because, obviously, you want to win games for your club and you want to show that you’re growing as a person every year.
“If I look back at me last year in that situation, who knows what could have happened?
“I could have let them into the game, but I’m happy that me and Compton pretty much worked together and bounced off each other and just kept each other going and got us to the end.”
Muyeye and Compton came together with Pakistan international Zafar Gohar on a hat-trick, only for the pair to take the wind out of Middlesex’s sails – before they took the game away from them in emphatic style.
“Since he joined this club, Ben has been so important to us,” Muyeye said. “He’s very different to a lot of us as batters.
“But because of the way he goes about his business, it allows a lot of us to just be ourselves, play our shots and you just always remember Ben’s at the other end.
“He’s just outstanding for us and churns out runs every single year when we need him.”
Muyeye also detailed how head coach Hollioake has tried to get him training at the tempo he wants him to play at this term.
“He’s said to keep it as simple as possible,” noted Muyeye.
“We’ve just done a few small things during the week in terms of training how I want to play, just things like that, getting better with my preparation and my training.
“Then when it goes out to the middle, hopefully, it’s a bit easier because you’ve been there during the training session. He’s been really good for me.
“He’s made me work really hard, but it’s been amazing so far.”
Muyeye has already scored more than 200 runs, although he won’t set any personal milestones for 2025.
He explained: “I’m not really a goal setter because it just puts so much pressure on yourself.
“I’m more of a go with the flow person so I probably won’t.”
