Yorkshire’s Jafer Chohan has received his first international call-up for England, with the leg-spinner a surprise inclusion on the white-ball tour of the Caribbean in October and November.
Chohan’s selection is another note of success for the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA): he is the programme’s first player to be named in an England squad. Warwickshire’s Dan Mousley and Hampshire’s John Turner are the other uncapped players in the 14-man group named for three one-day internationals and five T20s against West Indies.
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Jos Buttler returns as captain having missed the recent series against Australia with a calf injury, but the squad currently features no players named in the Test squad to face Pakistan this month.
Two players from the red-ball setup will eventually join the limited-overs group in the Caribbean; a call on which pair will be made after England have selected their team for the third Test in Rawalpindi. That match begins on 24 October, with England’s ODI series against West Indies starting a week later.
A potential international debut marks a rapid ascent for Chohan. The 22-year-old played age-group cricket for Middlesex but had to search elsewhere for professional opportunities, ending up at SACA. The Academy aims to improve British South Asian representation in professional cricket, providing opportunities to play against county second XIs.
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Jafer Chohan (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Will Jacks (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Dan Mousley (Warwickshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), John Turner (Hampshire, pictured)
Having impressed with the Academy in 2022, Chohan later trialled at Yorkshire, signing a rookie contract with the club prior to the 2023 season before taking 17 wickets in the T20 Blast this summer at an average of 15.52. The club announced a new three-year deal for Chohan this week, with the bowler also set to represent Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League this winter.
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“It emphasises that what we are doing is helping the system,” Tom Brown, SACA’s managing director, told the Guardian after Chohan’s call-up. “There’s so much talent out there that we’ve traditionally been missing out on and now we can access. We were always worried that when we started, obviously with Azeem Rafiq, the ICEC and Black Lives Matter, that we’d get viewed as a bit of EDI tick-boxing. But it shows that we’re a legitimate source of developing and showcasing talent that can reach the top level.”
Other county cricketers to have come through SACA include Somerset’s Andy Umeed, Worcestershire’s Kashif Ali and Gloucestershire’s Zaman Akhter. Akhter, a fast bowler, made his England Lions debut against Sri Lanka in August, taking seven wickets in the match.
Chohan will serve as an understudy to Adil Rashid on the tour and has worked closely with Rashid’s brother Amar, a coach with SACA. “They’re almost like brothers,” Brown added. “[Chohan] is a lovely kid. He’s incredibly hard-working, he will go and train by himself in terrible conditions. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s outside now training and it’s pissing it down. He comes off a long run, runs in quite quickly, bowls three or four good variations. Bowls a googly, bowls a slider – he’s quite clever with what he does.”
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