Ben Stokes says Rehan Ahmed can inspire younger British-Asian cricketers as England’s inclusivity credentials remain on trial

In the wake of a contentious legal battle within English cricket, after Azeem Rafiq’s claims of institutional racism during his time as a Yorkshire cricketer which included allegations against the likes of Michael Vaughan, England’s test captain Ben Stokes says the inclusion of 18-year-old wr spinner Rehan Ahmed in their final test in Pakan could send a positive message to young British-Asian cricketers.
“I have always felt cricket is a very inclusive sport,” he told The Guardian. “Rehan, he could be an unbelievable example to set for younger kids who want to come up. They may have maybe heard about what’s happened in cricket recently, (but) he can be seen as ‘we’ve got this 18-year-old, hopefully a potential superstar, why can’t I be that?’”
Stokes said that the possibility of calling up Ahmed is only on the basis of him earning his place in the team, and speaks to England’s strength in depth in having a solid wr-spinner in their ranks for South Asian conditions. “I don’t think it would be a case of giving caps away. We picked Rehan in the squad not just because of his talent and to integrate him, but because it would be a good opportunity to play him if we thought it was necessary,” he said.
“Having a wr-spinner is always exciting, especially for England, but it’s not getting too carried away with the potential that he has. Because he is only young, and you’ve still got to nurture talent, no matter how exciting it is,” he added.Subscriber Only StoriesPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
2022 has been a milestone year in English cricket of sorts. Not only did Stokes & co pick up the T20 World title in Australia to become joint-holders of both World Cups, the shakeup in the test team seeing Stokes become the captain, Brendon McCullum become the coach, and the term ‘Bazball’ getting integrated into cricket lexicon. Stokes & co defeated India in the delayed series decider in the summer, and picked up series wins at home over New Zealand and South Africa.

Playing a test series in Pakan after several years, Stokes’ side have settled it at 2-0, and are motivated the opportunity of completing a horic clean sweep. “Although the series here is done and we’ll still lift the trophy at the end regardless of the result, there’s still an extra bit knowing that we could be one of the very few teams that could walk away from Pakan with a whitewash series,” he said.