University News Last updated 21 July
The founder of the inspirational South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) has praised 探花直播 (BCU) for its pivotal role in helping transform how English cricket identifies and nurtures talent, as the two organisations enter a new three-year partnership.
Established in 2022 by Dr Tom Brown, a former BCU PhD student, SACA has become one of sport鈥檚 most compelling success stories, offering British South Asian cricketers long-overdue access to professional opportunities in the game.
鈥淚t couldn鈥檛 have happened without BCU,鈥� said Dr Brown, a former Warwickshire County Cricket Club pathway coach who now serves as SACA鈥檚 general manager.
鈥淪ixteen players have come through SACA to play first-class cricket. Jafer Chohan was playing club cricket three years ago. Now he鈥檚 in England squads. It鈥檚 like a Hollywood film.鈥�
SACA鈥檚 impact has been truly game-changing - in more ways than one.
Rooted in Dr Brown鈥檚 research, the academy was founded to address the stark under-representation of British South Asian males in the professional game.
Despite making up around 30% of recreational cricketers in England and Wales, British South Asians accounted for just 4% of professional male players at the start of the 2020s.
鈥淭he numbers and representation are getting better,鈥� said Dr Brown. 鈥淭he number of South Asian cricketers in first-class cricket has doubled in the past three years since SACA was launched.
鈥淥ur goal was to get one player a year on a professional contract - we鈥檝e got 16 in three-and-a-half years, among them Jafer and Zaman Akhter, who has played for England Lions.鈥�
SACA鈥檚 impressive work has drawn the attention of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), sparking important conversations about equity and inclusion in the sport鈥檚 talent systems.
鈥淲e鈥檝e proved the point that talent is being missed 鈥� that is undeniable,鈥� said Dr Brown.
鈥淭he game used to have this mentality that if you weren鈥檛 signed to professional terms by the age of 18, you were never going to be good enough.
鈥淲e鈥檝e helped demonstrate that this is not the case, that talent travels in different ways.鈥�
SACA鈥檚 work, however, is far from finished - and its renewed partnership with BCU is vital.
鈥淲ithout BCU, we wouldn鈥檛 be where we are,鈥� said Dr Brown. 鈥淔unding is key. We are a non-profit organisation, so it is up to the funders to decide how long we go for.鈥�
Professor Adam Kelly, Professor of Sport and Exercise at BCU and a global expert in talent development, believes the partnership is incredibly valuable.
鈥淚t was a bold move by BCU to invest in SACA in its early days, but that decision has truly paid off - it鈥檚 helped drive real change,鈥� he said.
鈥淲hen we launched SACA, our ambition was to develop one professional player each year. The fact that 16 players have already progressed to first-class cricket in three years is phenomenal.鈥�
Professor David Mba, BCU Vice-Chancellor, believes the 鈥渂est is yet to come鈥�.
He said: 鈥淭his partnership with SACA reflects everything we stand for at BCU - using research, education, and community engagement to break down barriers and drive meaningful change.
鈥淲e鈥檙e incredibly proud to support an initiative that is not only transforming lives but also challenging and reshaping the way English cricket discovers and nurtures talent.
鈥淭he progress so far has been extraordinary - and we believe the best is yet to come.鈥�
Professor Kelly says continuing the partnership was a 鈥渘o-brainer鈥�.
鈥淣ot only have we renewed it, we鈥檙e building on it. In September, we launched an exciting new pilot project to continue pushing boundaries.鈥�
That new initiative, backed by the BCU Research for Athlete and Youth Sport Development (RAYSD) Lab and supported by the ECB, is focused on creating more inclusive talent pathways, with a strong emphasis on supporting girls and young women.
Two PhD students are at the heart of the project: Omar Green, a former primary school teacher now coaching at Surrey CCC, and Hina Shafi, co-owner of Luton Women and Girls Cricket Club and a director at Cricket East.
鈥淚 want to make inclusivity relevant to the people I teach or coach,鈥� said Omar. 鈥淥ne goal is to make the talent pathway more objective by developing tools to support coaches and recruiters.鈥�
Hina鈥檚 research has already highlighted major underrepresentation of South Asian and Black female cricketers within the ECB鈥檚 talent systems.
鈥淎 lot of South Asian voices are not being heard, so it is now my role to listen to these voices and help develop better structures and settings for all women and girls in cricket,鈥� she said.
Her findings, shared with the ECB, are helping shape future policies and initiatives.
Professor Maxine Lintern, Dean of Research and Enterprise, is excited to see what the future holds.
She said: 鈥淏CU is excited to continue our partnership with SACA and to further develop our research into inequalities in cricket.
鈥淭he work so far has highlighted issues with talent pathways, has informed policy and practice and has helped support a number of talented people into professional roles.
鈥淎s we move into the next phase, we are excited to be exploring more ways to make the sport accessible to all, working with the ECB, and in particular looking at women athletes.鈥�
Pictured (from left):聽 Hina Shafi, Professor Adam Kelly, Dr Tom Brown, and Omar Green.