GEORGE DOBELL: The 21-year-old allrounder has signed a two-year deal with the Cardiff club. He is the latest off the production line to earn a contract with a first-class county after Shaftab Khalid, Andrew Umeed and Kashif Ali
The South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) has been praised for the "life-changing" opportunities it has provided, according to the latest graduate to sign for a first-class county.
Zain ul Hassan has become the fourth graduate of the SACA scheme (three of them players, one of them a coach) to be signed by a first-class county this year. The 21-year-old allrounder has signed a two-year deal with Glamorgan.
With one more signing anticipated from SACA in the coming weeks, a strong case could be made to argue it was the most successful academy in the county this year. In terms of value for money - it has cost the ECB nothing and exists mainly on a £50,000 grant from Birmingham City University (BCU) - it may prove especially hard to beat.
The SACA scheme, based upon the PhD research of Tom Brown at BCU, is aimed at correcting the current trend which sees a figure of over 30 per cent of recreational cricketers in England and Wales classified as 'British Asian' drop 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 with the aim of helping them win deals within the county system.
Zain made his List A debut for Worcestershire against West Indies A in 2019 (Tony Marshall/Getty Images)
Brown hopes that, within a few years, his recommendations will be accepted by the game as a whole and render his scheme obsolete.
Certainly, for Zain it has reaped significant rewards. Having trialled with six counties (Glamorgan, Surrey, Worcestershire, Kent, Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire) he has finally won the chance to pursue his dream of pursuing a career as a professional cricketer.
"Last year I was struggling to get second-team opportunities," Zain tells The Cricketer. "But this year, it’s felt as if I had someone pushing for me every day.
"SACA has played a big part - a really big part - in all of us being signed. It would be hard to describe how much the scheme - and Tom Brown, who runs it, especially - have done for us. I’d be nowhere without him. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank him enough. These are life-changing opportunities.
"Tom was on the phone every day. He was calling around the counties, seeing what they needed and trying to match their requirements with what we could provide.
SACA graduates
Zain ul Hassan (Glamorgan)
Shaftab Khalid (Warwickshire)
Andrew Umeed (Somerset)
Kashif Ali (Worcestershire)
"The assistance has been more than lobbying, though. Zain also received technical advice from the likes of Kabir Ali, who started the year as SACA’s bowling coach before moving to Yorkshire, and Shaftab Khalid, the scheme's assistant coach.
"Kabir helped me add a yard of pace with my bowling," he adds "He gave me lots of little drills to work on and helped me use my front arm better. He kept in touch even after moving to Yorkshire.
"And Shaftab helped me with the way I play spin. As a left-hander, I had tended to struggle against off-spin and, when he played Yorkshire early in the season, Jack Shutt [an off-spinner] got me out twice. But I batted against him again in the last match of the season, scored a hundred and wasn’t out to him in either innings."
That final innings of the season was actually for Kent, who also offered him a contract.
Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images)
Having grown-up playing tape-ball cricket, Zain's first experience with a hard ball came when he attended trials with Worcestershire. He impressed, though, and was selected for their Under-12 squad. He says that, while Glamorgan were initially more interested in his bowling, they now consider him "a genuine all-rounder". He was born in Pakistan and moved to England when he was seven.
So, why does he think players of Asian heritage are struggling to make the step up from recreational to professional cricket?
"A lot of it just comes down to cultural misunderstanding," he says. "Many people in my culture are brought up to be quiet, which we see as being respectful. But it can maybe be interpreted as appearing we don’t care at times.
"I think the success of SACA this season just shows how much talent there is out there that has been excluded from the system. I think it shows that, if people are given a fair opportunity, they can do well. There’s a lot of talent out there. It’s great that it feels as if we’re now being given a fair chance."
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