An England side with Rehan Ahmed in will have a better chance of winning a Test match in Australia than an England side without.
I say that because he is a match-winner. And before we get into talking about winning the Ashes, remember that England haven’t won so much as a Test there since 2011.
I’ve seen Ahmed playing for Leicestershire this season and he has been the standout player in their promotion charge. The 20-year-old is an accomplished cricketer and he’s stacked up the centuries with five in the County Championship – including four in his last five innings.
Against Derbyshire, he scored the fourth of those five centuries while taking 13 wickets, and all in all he has been instrumental in Leicestershire being top of Division Two, scoring 760 runs at an average of 51 and a strike rate of 76, while taking 23 wickets at 19 with the ball.
Alfonso Thomas, the Leicestershire head coach, said England should have picked Ahmed ahead of Liam Dawson at Old Trafford and I agree. Sadly, the Dawson experiment did not work. Of course, hindsight is a fabulous thing.
I’m not surprised that England didn’t put Ahmed in the squad this summer because he would have been stuck on the fringes, and I’m a firm believer in letting cricketers play cricket. Look at poor Jacob Bethell, who they’ve carried round. He looked like a fish out of water at the Oval.
An England side with Rehan Ahmed in will have a better chance of winning a Test in Australia than an England side without
The 20-year-old is an accomplished cricketer and has stacked up the centuries, with five in the County Championship – including four in his last five innings
This season he has scored 760 runs at an average of 51 and a strike rate of 76, while taking 23 wickets at 19 with the ball
But given Ahmed’s ridiculous form, they should have gone to him when Shoaib Bashir got injured. I know from speaking to him that he will not be satisfied with playing just county cricket. He’s ambitious and wants to play Test cricket again.
If England were advertising for players, then he absolutely fits the Bazball type. He certainly doesn’t mess around when he’s batting and Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are admirers – they made him England’s youngest ever Test cricketer, aged 18, when he made his debut in Pakistan in 2022. He took a five-wicket haul in the second innings in Karachi to help complete a famous 3-0 clean sweep.
Ahmed has got a good confidence about him and after the summer he’s had, will have learnt so much more about his game. The lad has an enormous appetite for cricket. If you know me, I’m always looking at scorecards and he’s one of the names that keeps on delivering. It’s so gratifying when youngsters do the business.
He turns 21 this month, but from what I’ve seen he accepts responsibility and the figures this season tell you enough.
With his numbers, he’s not a hunch or a wildcard pick. Ahmed has got a bit of pedigree about him and isn’t without experience. He’s been on England tours and yes, Australia will be a challenge, but he will not be overwhelmed by the occasion.
Instead of No 3, where Ahmed has settled for Leicestershire, including scoring 119 against Kent last week, I’ve put him at eight in my side because England want a long batting line-up Down Under and he fits the bill.
Especially now that Chris Woakes is out, he fits what they’re after. Ahmed is a genuine all-rounder and this bloke is now a better player than Woakes.
Yes, it would be nice if he bowled more, but we don’t bowl much leg-spin in England, although it will be a massive advantage in Australia. He has a lovely action, can bowl a leg-spinner, a googly and, crucially, spins the ball hard.
In December 2022 in Karachi he became England’s youngest ever Test cricketer, and followed it up by taking the youngest five-wicket haul in Test history
Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum are big fans of this kid and I’d love to see him given the chance in the Ashes this winter
A 13-year-old Ahmed impressed the king of leg spin, Shane Warne, when they met in 2017
Remember, he’s still got so long to learn and add to his talents, though he got a good grounding and started in the perfect place when he was just 13, appearing on a Sky Sports segment where he impressed Shane Warne in the nets. Warne, who knew a thing or two about leg-spin, said Ahmed would be heading for the top in record time.
He’s cricket mad, too. Ahmed reminds me of Bill Wyman, the Rolling Stones’ former bass guitarist, because the pair of them don’t talk about anything other than cricket. I’ve met the family and his brother, Farhan – four years younger and already in the Nottinghamshire side – has something about him too. Between them, you can see the determination of wanting to play at the highest level.
The other thing is that with the Lions tour to Australia this winter, he should be there regardless. Andrew Flintoff is coaching the Lions and Freddie would love him. I reckon they’ll take Farhan on the Lions trip too.
But even if England don’t pick Rehan for the first Test in Perth in November, he will be up to speed and ready if they call him up in the middle of the series. Either way, he’ll get a trip to Australia and it will be such an adventure. Pack your bags, son.