COVERED 2025 Spring

COVERED 10 TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK “All I could think about was just how I could impact the game for Notts as much as I could, to try and help the team get a result.” This, of course, was no end-of-season dead rubber. After falling to defeat at Durham in the previous round, Notts had four September fixtures within which to secure safety in Division One of the County Championship. Surrey, seeking a third successive county title, appeared typically imperious as the first of those fixtures began, passing 200 for the loss of just one wicket. But there was a precocious approach to patience from Nottinghamshire’s freshest face on the First-Class scene. “I was thankful that we were bowling first, to be honest, and that Hass (club captain Haseeb Hameed) gave me the ball quite early on in the game to help me settle down,” he says. “At lunch, I just thought to myself that as long as I kept bowling consistently good overs, then the wickets would eventually come towards the end of the day. “When speaking with my dad and brothers, we speak about how in four- day cricket it’s about patience; the more good overs I bowl, the more maidens I bowl, the rewards will eventually come. “My dad always said to me, if you as a bowler can be more patient than the batter, you’ll be more successful. “I got my first wicket in my 18th over, and by the end of the day I had a four-wicket haul. So I’m very thankful for how that went.” Ryan Patel, Rory Burns, Ben Foakes andWill Jacks were prize first scalps on Ahmed’s first day as a County Championship cricketer – bringing to mind an equally impressive debut by fellow Academy graduate Lyndon James in 2018, when Murali Vijay,Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence were the all-rounder’s impressive trio of victims. And Ahmed returned on day two with more in the tank – thanks in part to an unconventional approach to mid-match nutrition. Where Usain Bolt once gorged on chicken nuggets to prepare for his assault on the record books, for Ahmed it was a somewhat sweeter snack that provided the spark. “Usually, you’d be feeling really quite tired after bowling 50 overs,” he concedes, recalling his mammoth contribution in that first innings. “But I was just so happy about how involved I was in the game that I was enjoying every second. “Hass would tell me that he’s thinking of taking me off for a rest, but I kept saying, ‘look, I’m setting him (the batter) up, I’m ready to take the ball whenever you want me to.’ “I try to keep this away from the S&Cs and the nutritionists, but I always take sweets with me to have during the game. It keeps my sugar up and ensures my energy is constantly at a high level. “Before the Surrey game, my older sister “THE DAY BEFORE THE GAME, MOORESY TOLD ME THAT ALTHOUGH THIS PART OF THE SEASON WAS OFTEN SEEN AS THE TIME FOR TRYING OUT YOUNGER PLAYERS, I WAS BEING SELECTED BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED THAT I WOULD IMPROVE THE TEAM AND IMPACT THAT GAME.” Farhan Ahmed