Brighton Mugochi is making waves in Hampshire, one of the 18 first-class counties in England and Wales. The Zimbabwean is making significant contributions to the future of cricket in this county.
Mugochi runs the S and B Academy, which has nurtured players talented enough to represent Hampshire’s age group teams.
As “The Thirdman,” I was intrigued to learn more about this academy, run by my former Eagles teammate. Before delving into questions about the S and B Academy, I was curious about the name we share: Brighton. I have often been asked intriguing questions about why I was named Brighton, so i asked Mugochi what is it like to live in England as a Brighton?
Mugochi chuckled, “I’m always asked if I grew up in Brighton. People find the name amazing.”
Amazing is also Mugochi’s contributions to cricket in his new home area. It’s even more impressive that he has enlisted the help of Michael Carberry and John Nyumbu to provide batting and bowling masterclasses, respectively.
Carberry is a prominent figure in Hampshire Cricket County team history. Alongside South Africa’s Neil McKenzie, he holds Hampshire’s highest-ever partnership of 523 runs, achieved against Yorkshire in 2011. This partnership also stands as the third-highest in County Championship history. Carberry also represented England in the 2013/14 Ashes series.
John Nyumbu is the second Zimbabwean to take five wickets on Test debut, a feat accomplished against South Africa at Harare Sports Club in 2014.
“I’ve known Michael since his playing days at Hampshire because I trained with Hampshire before,” Mugochi mentioned. “I also work within the pathway system, so I’ve had some contact with many professionals associated with Hampshire. I’m quite close with Michael now, as we share similar coaching values, so our conversations revolve around cricket.”
“With John Nyumbu we have known each other from Zimbabwe we have a long history playing with and against each other and now we are playing against each other again in the same league.”
Regarding the Academy’s background, Mugochi explained, “We established it with a friend of mine named Sam, and my name being ‘Bright’ led to the formation of Sam and Bright Academy. However, Sam has since moved on to work in another industry.”
“We launched the business during lockdown. Initially, we started with one-on-one coaching when we were permitted to meet one person from another household. As restrictions eased, we transitioned to group training for kids aged between 8-14 years. Now, we run an academy in Hampshire that operates year-round, along with holiday camps and masterclasses. I also collaborate with local clubs to provide them with cricket coaching curriculums and qualified coaches.”
With the S and B Academy already achieving success, one can’t help but wonder about the project’s future.
Mugochi stated, “The vision is to develop the academy into a High-Performance Academy, utilizing my qualifications and wealth of experience from the likes of Michael Carberry. I am an ECB level 2 coach, and I am on the cusp of attaining an ECB Advanced Coaching badge (Level 3). Many of our young players have gone on to represent Hampshire in various county age groups, and through that, we have developed a strong coaching brand within Hampshire.”
Mugochi is deeply passionate about grassroots cricket and aspires to contribute to Zimbabwe Cricket in this area. “I have numerous ideas that I would like to implement in collaboration with Zimbabwe Cricket, particularly focused on the development of pathways.”
Mugochi played 22 first-class matches, 18 List A, and 17 T20s. His profile also includes a match for Hampshire’s second team. How did that happen?
“It was my first season in Hampshire, and I had taken numerous wickets for my premier league club, which led to my selection to play a final for the second XI league against Lancashire. Unfortunately, due to visa regulations and my status as a student, the ECB prohibited me from playing any cricket outside of my university, which caused me to take a year off from playing cricket.”
A two-year investigation by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, which interviewed over 4000 people, concluded that English and Wales Cricket was ‘Elitist’, ‘Racist’, and ‘Sexist’.
Mugochi, who captains and coaches Totton and Eling Cricket Club in the Southern Premier Cricket League Division 1, is pleased to see the ECB responding positively to these findings.
“As someone passionate about the game, I believe that any form of discrimination is unacceptable within the sport. Players should be selected based on ability, and this includes coaching jobs or any involvement in the sport. I am glad to see the ECB making efforts to address these issues, such as the ACE (African Caribbean Engagement) program, which aims to bridge the gap for the elite to be exposed to cricket.”
Beautiful initiative and interesting read
Thank you