For those of us who play and follow cricket in the NYC region, we know that the cricketing infrastructure here lacks the resources and financial backing to nurture young talent preventing them from reaching their fullest cricketing potential. This is especially true for those in the Bengali cricketing community. Whereas many from other national backgrounds have made it to the highest levels of USA cricket, we can count the number of Bengali cricketers at the highest levels with the fingers on one of my hands (although more are breaking into the highest levels more recently). No one person or governing body is at fault as there are lots of factors at play here. It is a topic for another day and another discussion. However, through the chaos and disarray, some talented players are emerging as their potential is being recognized by more than their peers. This piece is about one such youngster.
Safwan Ahmed, a bright 17-year-old senior in high school. Safwan is an immigrant like many of us here in the US who love and play cricket at the recreational and league level. Fortunately, Safwan and I are playing for the same club and I am often his chauffer to and from practices and matches. So, I had some time to ask the youngster some questions. I am always curious about people’s lives. Everyone has a unique set of experiences. Having access to a talented young cricketer, I had to do an interview. He had never been interviewed before and I had never done a formal interview before. So, this was more of a conversation that was intended to be an interview. I did not have lots of questions prepared and mostly let the youngster talk about his life and experiences. Most of the conversations took place during our drives to and from practice sessions, with some details added in over text. Here is a modified transcript of our conversation.
Rayhan: So Safwan, tell me when you started playing cricket? How? Who taught you? Where did you play? Start there.
Safwan: I played cricket first with my cousins, I was about 7-8 years old when I started playing. At the time, I was playing with the neighborhood kids, or the kids in the area.
Rayhan: Where were you at that age?
Safwan: We were in Sylhet City, Sylhet, in Bangladesh. The place is called Char Dighir Par. It was a normal thing back in Bangladesh where neighborhood kids would play cricket in the afternoon. That is where my interest in cricket grew. We were playing with tape ball or tennis ball at the time.
I went to a school called Scholars Home. Back in Bangladesh, we have school tournaments. When I was in class 8, after the standard exams, some of our elder brothers came to us told those of us who were interested to try out for the school cricket team. So, I thought, why not go try out? I had no expectations from the tryouts. I only went for fun. That was the first time I bowled with a hardball. It felt good bowling with an actual cricket ball. I was selected for the team and we practiced for about two months, around December-January. The tournament was to start in February. I was graduating from 8th and about to go into 9th. The team was being put together after 3-4 years. The school was basically making a comeback.
Rayhan: Who selected the team members? Who selected you?
Safwan: It was a combination of schoolteacher and the older students who were enrolled in local cricket academies. They were given the responsibility.
Rayhan: I see.
Safwan: Yea, so after the selection, we had a coach.
Rayhan: So, this is when you were in 9th grade? How old were you then?
Safwan: Yes, I was in 9th. I was 14 then. I am 17 now. Our coach for the cricket team was an assistant coach for the local cricket academy, Green Sylhet Academy. Practicing under the coach was what grew my interest in cricket. We would have regular practices, fitness sessions and drills. The tournament was called Building Schools (‘School Nirmaan’ in Bengali).
Rayhan: This was a tournament between different schools?
Safwan: Yes, different school teams would play against each other. It is one of the more common school tournaments back home.
Rayhan: Is the tournament only in Sylhet?
Safwan: No, there are different levels. At first, we play a division-wide tournament. The division-wide champions then go on to play on the national level and play against other division-wide champions throughout the country. We played for Sylhet division. There were other divisions like Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, etc. There were 7 divisions in total.
We played the division-wide tournament, and this was the first time we went to the semi-finals in the regional championship. This was the first tournament I played with a real cricket ball. It was the first time I understood what a professional championship is like.
Rayhan: Did you have any notable performances?
Safwan: Not at that tournament. But I played in all the matches. I was not on the bench. There was a 14–15-man squad. The tournament ended for us after we lost in the semi-finals.
Rayhan: Which year was this?
Safwan: The tournament was in the beginning of 2018. There was no support from my family for playing cricket. I wanted to enroll in the cricket academy after the tournament ended but could not gather the courage to ask them. Later in the year, September of 2018, I heard there was going to be a trial for under-18 and under-16 teams. Others usually practice before going to the trial. But I was too scared to even ask my family’s permission to go try out for the team. I waited until the week before to tell them. They were not happy about it. I was also pessimistic about the whole thing. I told them that most likely I would not get selected, and it will just be a fun one-day thing for me. I will be able to play cricket for the day and that will be the end of it.
Rayhan: Where was this trial?
Safwan: At the District Stadium. It was about 10 minutes from where I used to live. One of my cousins went with me too. He tried for the under-18 camp. There was line of about 1500 kids for the under-16 tryouts.
Rayhan: You said 1500?
Safwan: Yes, its difficult to imagine, you must see it. It appears all the kids in Sylhet came out to try. Seeing the line, I was not sure I wanted to go through with the tryouts. I was on the line for about an hour or two. I got my name registered. I tried out as a batsman. It was a two-day trial. First day is a partial selection and the second day is the main selection of about a 32-man squad.
The first day, I played freely and connected every ball. There was no pressure on me, that was what helped. I thought I would leave after that, but they told me to go give my name for another list. When I went home and told my folks, they would not believe me. So much so that one of my brothers came with me the next day just to confirm that I was not lying, he said with a chuckle.
Rayhan: Wow. That is a good segue, tell me more about your family.
Safwan: I am the youngest son of my family. My father was a police officer in Bangladesh. He passed away in 2019. I now live with my mother and my two brothers.
Rayhan: I am sorry to hear that.
Safwan: He also played cricket for Sylhet division in Bangladesh.
Rayhan: I see. Was he your inspiration for playing cricket?
Safwan: Yes, he was my inspiration for pursuing cricket. Hearing his cricket stories inspired me as a kid to follow his path. Another person who inspired me as well was my first coach (the assistant coach from the academy who coached the school cricket team). His mentorship guided me towards professional cricket.
Rayhan: I see. Okay continue from where we left off with your story. Your brother went with you to the under-16 trial?
Safwan: Yes, he did. The first day they selected 50-60 kids to show up for the next day. The second day they cut that list down to about 32. I somehow managed to be on the shortlist.
After the trial, the camp started about 2-3 months after, around December 2018 or January 2019. After the selection I registered with the academy.
Rayhan: Were you training under the same coach as before?
Safwan: No, I went to him, but he referred me to the head coach, and I was training under him for the few months. I was training about four days a week. During this time, I had to get a physical checkup done. They have an age verification process too. They check the paperwork, birth certificate and whatnot. Then they also verify our age through a medical process. The test result came back saying that I am over 16. So, I could not be in the under-16 team. After the test results came back, they automatically put me in the under-18 camp.
The only way to challenge the test was to get another test done in Dhaka. So, I went to Dhaka with a cousin and got the test done. This test confirmed my age, and I was put back in the under-16 camp. But in the meantime, I was in the under-18 camp and I trained with them for four to five days. We didn’t know for sure about the age, so I practiced with the older group just in case. Under 18 was tougher, the training was on a higher level of difficulty.
Rayhan: So that helped you out.
Safwan: Yes, it did. The under-18 camp starts earlier and the under-16 a little later. So, I had the benefit of being in both camps. The under-16 camp started around December 2018. After the camp, they selected about 15 from the group of 32 to go on tour. I was selected to be on the touring group.
Rayhan: Before this camp, you were in the academy?
Safwan: Yes, between the selection and the camp, I was in the academy. That is where I learned most about cricket.
Rayhan: How long were you in the academy for?
Safwan: Almost three to four months.
Rayhan: So, from September to December, you were in the academy. Then you were with the under-16 camp.
Safwan: Yes.
Rayhan: And how long was the camp?
Safwan: Camp was about 2 weeks. There were fitness, batting, and bowling drills that we went through. Also, during this camp, the School Nirmaan tournament was happening, and our school participated. I was not able to practice for that tournament. I only played one match with the team.
Rayhan: Did you make a good contribution?
Safwan: I was not out. We were winning easily, and I went to bat at 3rd down. We only needed a few runs by the time I went to bat.
At that time, I was confident of being with the under-16 camp. I had put in the time and hard work. In mid-January, the team went on tour. It was as part of a national championship. I came to the US in February 2019. When I was on tour, my visa, and tickets to come here was already confirmed. I was sad about the timing of the whole thing. I did not feel like playing at times knowing that this was not going anywhere. When I started, I had hopes of making the most of the opportunity I received and making it big in cricket through hard work. Then when the whole coming to US thing came about, I stopped taking cricket so seriously. Safwan was visibly sad while talking about this.
I was with the touring team, but I did not play as much as I should have. My coach knew about my situation and so prioritized the other players over me. I only played the last match of the tournament with the team. I did not perform well either. Overall, in Bangladesh, I did not have any notable performances.
I enjoyed playing in Bangladesh, but I could not perform well in the matches. But when I came to the US and played my first match in PSAL, I scored 82.
Rayhan: So, you came here in February of 2019?
Safwan: Yes, middle of February 2019. I did some research and asked around at the academy in Bangladesh about cricket in the US and what everyone said was encouraging. After I came here, I started playing again in March for PSAL.
Rayhan: How many matches did you play?
Safwan: I played 9 matches with the school team. We won only two. I had a hard time adjusting to the cold. Playing in spring, while the temperature is still low was difficult to adjust to. My hands would stiffen up.
Rayhan: Did you play in any other leagues in 2019?
Safwan: No, I did not. I went back to Bangladesh in the summer of 2019. My family went back for my brother’s exam. I was by myself for a little while because my family went back almost immediately, in April of 2019. I stayed another month or two before going back for the whole summer.
Rayhan: What about in 2020?
Safwan: I played U-16 EYCL (East Coast Cricket League) for my academy, QUCA. I was the top scorer in that tournament. I also had other plans to play more and utilize my time to improve my game but COVID hit hard. At the end of the day, it did not make much difference other than a lack of game time. At home, I worked on my fitness and skills. My main target for the year was to prepare myself for 2021 and I believe the time has come.
Safwan will be attending Baruch College in the fall of 2021 and major in accounting. He is still unsure of how his high school graduation will be in the midst of the pandemic. He will be playing for three different teams in three different leagues this summer: for King Cobra in NYBCL, for NY Titans in BCL and for Fearless in NYNCL. Safwan was recently selected for the East Zone Under-19 squad for the USA Cricket Men’s Under 19 National Championship which will take place in Houston, Texas from April 4th to the 11th. When asked about his future goals and his expectations/hope from USA Cricket, he said this.
I hope I get the opportunities to showcase my cricketing ability. My goal is to play cricket for the USA National Team one day and take cricket to the next level and I will try my best to make that a reality.
Safwan is one of only a few Bengali cricketers who made it in one of the shortlists in a USA Cricket National Championship. Some of the other notable names from the Bengali community who made it in the national circuits are:
Sumon Bari (represented USA in Under 19 tournaments in 2006 and 2007)
Shaker Ahmed (selected as part of USA Cricket training camp in 2021)