Andy Umeed joins Somerset, becoming second SACA graduate to earn county deal

Umeed, who is 26-year-old, has previously scored two first-class centuries for Warwickshire but was released at the end of thee 2018 season

Another graduate from the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) has signed for a first-class county.

Andy Umeed, the Academy captain and opening bat, has signed for Somerset on a deal which begins immediately and lasts until the end of the 2023 season.

Umeed, who is 26-year-old, has previously scored two first-class centuries for Warwickshire including a memorably patient effort against a Lancashire attack including James Anderson. It took Umeed 429 minutes to reach the milestone; it is believed to be the second slowest (in terms of minutes) century in the history of the Championship. He was released from the club at the end of the 2018 season.

Such obduracy might be exactly what a fragile Somerset top-order requires, though. The club had previously made an approach for Dom Sibley, the Warwickshire opener, but he chose to return to Surrey instead. Umeed scored a century for Somerset’s second team on trail a few weeks ago. Yorkshire were also interested in signing him.

Umeed is the second member of the SACA squad to win a contract with a first-class county. Kashif Ali signed for Worcestershire a few weeks ago and has been a regular member of their first team since.

^{Umeed (above) is the second SACA graduate to sign for a first-class county, following Kashif Ali (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

In all, SACA has seen 15 of its squad members trialling with first-class counties. The management remain hopeful more players will graduate to full-time professional contracts before the end of the season.

The SACA scheme, based upon the PhD research of Tom Brown at Birmingham City University (BCU), is aimed at correcting the current trend which sees over 30 per cent of recreational cricketers in England and Wales classified as 'British Asian' but the figure drops to under five per cent when it comes to men's professional cricket.

It involves selecting a squad of players who do not currently have contracts and providing them with tailored training plans and dietary advice in the aim of helping them win deals within the county system. It is designed to become obsolete within a few years as the learnings implemented become part of the mainstream system.

The scheme is funded, in the main, through a grant worth £50,000 from BCU. Other well-wishers, reading of the schemes progress, have pledged donations in recent weeks. The ECB have, to date, declined to contribute.

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