Apprentice star Dean Ahmad explains how franchise cricket has changed the game for agents

NICK FRIEND: There is a paradox to franchise cricket – an industry founded on short-termism, but one that requires a long-term outlook. As an agent, Ahmad has come to understand the need to put future opportunity ahead of monetary gain

“It’s so cut-throat,” Dean Ahmad says with a smile. He likes it that way; it is why life as a cricket agent first appealed to the 20-year-old.

Right now, though, his mind is elsewhere; he is reflecting on The Apprentice, the business-based reality show now in its 15th year. Filming finished months ago but the television series is now in full flow and, as Ahmad speaks from his high-rise office in east London, he remains in with a chance of becoming Lord Sugar’s latest partner.

“Let’s take week one,” he recalls. “You walk onto set, you’ve never spoken to anyone, you’re all in silence. The phone goes: ‘Lord Sugar will see you now’.

“Still, you haven’t spoken to anyone there. We get told we’re going to South Africa; you can imagine the adrenalin rush and the sense of unknown. We walk off set, pack our bags, go to the airport, do the task, fly back, straight into the boardroom, showering at the studio.

“And then someone got fired – they never see the house; you never see them again. I didn’t have time to enjoy it – I was thinking about how every week I would guide myself through. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. You can see my face when I was in the bottom three in the second week – I look like I’m about to burst out in tears. I wasn’t, but you’re under that pressure.”

There is a relentlessness to it all that suits Ahmad, one of cricket’s youngest representatives. Once upon a time, the age tag used to worry him; in a dog-eat-dog industry, what would those around him think of a teenage self-starter?

These days, however, Ahmad has moved past any apprehension. “Ironically, although I’m young in the industry, I’ve actually been doing it for four or five years,” he says. “So, I’m very experienced in that sense; I know what I’m doing. My track record and clients speak for themselves.”

He is self-confident but not cocky. In an industry of ex-lawyers and former players, he embodies the continuing shift of the cricketing landscape.

His business began with two naïve LinkedIn messages fired off to a pair of English coaches, wondering – with little clout to back up his query – if they would like him to source them jobs in the Pakistan Super League. Months later – in the midst of half-term, a 16-year-old Ahmad was in Dubai with Quetta Gladiators and his first two clients: one as assistant coach, the other on the support team.

Everything has sprouted from there – an unusual show of initiative that has all led to this. This is a company of a dozen players, all of whom Ahmad represents exclusively. To split responsibilities with other agencies, he explains, goes against what he stands for and, in his view, what works best in the brave new world of franchise cricket.

Given the sheer number of tournaments now shoehorned into a calendar already packed with a robust Future Tours Programme, it is an area that requires the majority of Ahmad’s time.

“You have to make interesting decisions,” he laughs. “The fact that there’s a franchise competition practically every month, it means that there’s potentially work and playing opportunities for players to showcase their skills throughout the year, wherever that player is from.

“It leads to interesting discussions in a world where agents have a reputation for being money-hungry, bad people. We have always had the stance with every player we work with that the philosophy is of a marathon and not a sprint. It’s about interesting decisions.”

^{Mohammad Nawaz has picked the Mzansi Super League over the T10 League to give himself a chance of making Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad}

Take the example of Mohammad Nawaz, the Pakistan left-arm spinner. The 25-year-old has been dropped from his country’s squad for their tour of Australia, having been a member of the party for Sri Lanka’s landmark visit to Pakistan earlier in October.

With a T20 World Cup a year away and Pakistan about to embark on a tour of the host nation, what happens next cannot be about short-termism or monetary gain. That is Ahmad’s golden rule.

“We always look at it as a long-term decision – not for the next month, not for the next two months, not financially,” he adds. “For the next five or ten years. It’s always been about that. The reputation is that agents look for the short buck. The player’s interest is first – regardless of what that means financially for us. It’s the long-term. We have to add value.”

In Nawaz’s case, that means picking a second stint in the Mzansi Super League with Cape Town Blitz over the less reputable, more lucrative T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

“Thinking ahead to the World T20, what he needs now is a platform to showcase what he can do,” Ahmad says.

“We had the opportunity for him to play in the T10 League or in South Africa, which clashes. One representative might look at the cheque and think he’ll earn a bit more money in the T10.

“But if you look at the bigger picture, he can go to South Africa, which is a proper T20 tournament. He’s not going to make headlines in the T10, but he can do that in the South African league.

“It’s a month-and-a-half-long tournament and it gives him an opportunity to showcase what he can do. If he does well, he has every right to put his name in that T20 World Cup squad.”

It is a simple premise, but complex at the same time. The industry has altered dramatically in recent years, with the advent of several similar competitions worldwide.

Ravi Bopara, another of Ahmad’s clients at Fine Edge Cricket, joined Sussex from Essex at the end of the season – a move ultimately born out of the former England allrounder’s desire to continue playing into his 40s and the subsequent impasse that ensued. Essex would not budge on the one-year deal offered to the 34-year-old; Bopara, still with almost a decade of cricket in him, in his eyes, wanted greater security.

“People say it’s a young man’s game,” Bopara told The Cricketer. “I really don’t believe it is. I think it’s an old man’s game.” It is the effect that the T20 industry has had on the game – it has not just opened doors, but built doorframes, where openings did not previously exist.

“Sussex offered me an opportunity that wasn’t being offered anywhere else,” he added. “I’m very thankful for that and it means a lot to me.” His move to Hove was not economically driven, but rather because of the flexibility that will exist in his contract to allow him to explore the franchise world.

“You know how people go into other jobs, other careers? Well, I’m going to start new with T20 cricket,” he explained. “I’d love to see where I end up.”

That, to a point, is where the agent comes in. The stereotype of the sporting representative is one of greed and “the short buck”, Ahmad acknowledges. It is the nature of the beast – a creature perhaps more prevalent in other sports, where big-money transfers have long been the norm.

And so, the question is a straightforward one, but with an intriguing answer. What exactly does Dean Ahmad do? In short, his job is to pitch players, get the word out, do all he can to get his clients signed up.

“From a franchise perspective, that might be doing the groundwork [ahead of a draft] – whether that’s doing video analysis or statistical analysis and then providing it to influential stakeholders: owners, coaches, potentially skippers, analysts, who are generally on the draft table,” he explains.

“The role of a representative is unbelievably important. We target the decision-makers. It’s doing the groundwork in a professional way.

“You might know certain people who can help push a deal along, but you only have two or three people who actually click the button or put their hands up in the auction. It’s about targeting the right people but, more importantly, in the right way.

“We do all of that. In an era where franchises are increasingly doing their homework, doing the nitty-gritty in terms of statistical analysis, that’s so important.

“People want to see how a particular player has done in the last three years, how he does against left-arm spin. We provide all that and we do that groundwork. It leads to results.

“We go out there and do the advanced data analysis. We do everything we can to make sure that a player gets a gig at all costs – at the right place, at the right price.”

^{Brendon McCullum holds huge sway at the draft table as a former star of the T20 circuit and now as a head coach of two prominent teams}

Game context is vital. If a squad already possesses three local left-arm spinners, do they need another? Is there a team without a leg-spinner?

Ahmad has seen instances where merely through building the initial foundations and providing detailed, relevant analysis, previously unknown clients have been invited over to Indian Premier League camps on a practice or trial basis.

Meanwhile, players – stalwarts of the circuit – hold increasing sway in the draft process. Brendon McCullum, for one, has been one of the world’s most sought-after T20 hitters in the world since the IPL was introduced. He has played all over the globe, and now he is a prominent head coach – both of Kolkata Knight Riders and Trinbago Knight Riders.

Rashid Khan is another; Laurie Evans played with him at Sussex. Having clearly impressed the Afghan leg-spinner, Evans was signed up by his Kabul franchise for the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League. Gigs have followed for the Englishman in the PSL and Caribbean Premier League.

There is a sound logic to it all. It is part of playing the long game – a game of forging links, impressing those in positions of sway, focusing on the future.

Even 12 years after its inception, the IPL remains the golden goose of the franchise world, even if The Hundred represents an attempt to similarly innovate. Ahmad’s prediction is that the ECB’s new competition will eventually become a platform and a precursor for potential IPL talent.

In essence, the talent pool in the English tournament will see those who impress handed a chance in India. It returns to Ahmad’s primary rule: objectives are long-term. He draws up a development pathway with each of his clients, all with a clear aim in mind.

“We ensure we maintain those goals about how they are going to get to where they want – in terms of where they want to be playing, at what price and how they go about doing that,” he says.

“It’s so important that these guys are kept busy – financially, obviously, but so they’ve got the opportunity to showcase their skillset.

“You look at influential stakeholders, but you also look at coaches – guys like Tom Moody, Gary Kirsten, Andrew McDonald. We could have three offers from teams on the table and one might be more than the other, but he might not actually play the whole tournament at that team, for example.

“The bottom offer might actually be the better offer for him; he might play every game; he might have an IPL coach. He builds a relationship with the coach; he plays every game – it’s a proper opportunity for him.

“Those are the sort of decisions where you have to look at the bigger picture rather than the short-term. For some people, £15,000 more might be a simple no-brainer, but I don’t see it like that.”

He points to the example of Aaron Summers, the Australian tearaway fast bowler who is on Ahmad’s books. The 23-year-old is a potentially frightening prospect; he played twice in the most recent edition of the Pakistan Super League and had been picked up by Belfast Titans in the Euro T20 Slam before it was postponed.

That was a source of frustration for many – from the local players who missed out on a fabulous opportunity to the seasoned veterans of the circuit who turned down CPL interest for the new tournament.

^{Aaron Summers was scheduled to play for Belfast Titans in the Euro T20 Slam}

For Summers, it would have represented the break to which Ahmad refers. “It’s about building his pathway,” he explains. “It’s about him getting that opportunity, getting someone to back him. Maybe in a year or two, he might have the IPL calling him.”

If that sounds farfetched, then think back to the dawn of Jofra Archer as an international superstar. Yes, he was performing for Sussex, dominating County Championship highlight reels posted as ten-second snippets on social media.

But, it was a successful stint with Khulna Titans in the Bangladesh Premier League that first set him on his path as a destroyer of the very best on the global stage. He took ten wickets in nine games at an economy rate under seven as a franchise novice. It was followed by his first campaign with Hobart Hurricanes, all ultimately leading to World Cup glory, via the IPL.

It is why recent events in the franchise world have become a source of concern. As well as the Euro T20 Slam, the Afghanistan Premier League has been called off for the year, while the terms around this year’s tournament in Bangladesh remain a matter of some confusion. Players even resorted to protest at one stage of the Global T20 Canada after salaries were not paid on time.

The effects, Ahmad stresses, are twofold: not only economic, but also in the importance of an opportunity lost – the chance to show off to the world, to stake a claim higher up the franchise food chain.

“Players only have so many years and so many opportunities to showcase what they can do,” he says. “It’s a big miss. It’s a shame how much increase in uncertainty there is at the moment.

“It’s an interesting time for franchise cricket, but we’re hoping that The Hundred is going to give some stability with the IPL, PSL and others.

“Even with the APL, which is maybe one of the smaller leagues, that’s a lot of money for anyone, let alone someone who might be struggling back in Afghanistan.

“It’s fundamental. It’s incredibly frustrating. People look at athletes, but they have to realise that these guys have to earn a living. These guys have kids and people to feed at home. Paying people on time is the basic of business.”

And we return to where we began: business. Ahmad finds himself in a pressurised job. As he explains the workings of his world, it is important to remind oneself that he speaks as a 20-year-old, even if he possesses the wisdom of someone far more experienced.

“We view it as almost like a family relationship,” he smiles. “The player should be able to trust us with anything and everything.

“Our work can be so widescale – whether that’s organising a kid’s flight to come and see them, more on the cricket side of things or even speaking to a big brand.

“A player can ask us for pretty much anything and we’ll be there for them. Whether it be 4.30am or 2am – and obviously there’s the time difference to factor in as well.

“It’s all about trust, all about reputation. The player-agent relationship – words can’t describe how important it is.”

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