Fawad Ahmed (; born 10 March 1979) is an Australian former cricketer. Born in Pakistan, he was granted Australian citizenship in July 2013. In August and September 2013, he played for the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in international cricket. Along with England, it is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing and winning the first ever Test match in 1877; the team also plays One ...

in both a T20I and an ODI series against England.

Career

Born in

Swabi Swabi (; ) is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located near the bank of the Indus River. It is the 73rd largest city of Pakistan and eighth largest in the province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Swabi is also a major city in ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province, Ahmed began playing cricket for Swabi District in local competitions. Playing as a right-arm

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins fr ...

ner, he made his first-class debut for

Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...

in 2005, playing two matches before being dropped from the side. Ahmed resumed playing first-class cricket in 2009, playing for Pakistan Customs in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, and later that year also played three further matches for Abbottabad. His best bowling figures, 6/109, were taken for Pakistan Customs against the

Karachi Whites Karachi is the capital city of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the largest city in Pakistan and 12th largest in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea ...

, in January 2009. Ahmed left Pakistan in 2010, emigrating to Australia on a short-stay visa sponsored by the Yoogali Cricket Association. Soon after arrival, he applied for

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

status, claiming he was persecuted by religious extremists for playing and coaching cricket. His hometown is in northwest Pakistan, a region that borders

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and was affected by the War in North-West Pakistan. Choosing to live in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Victoria, Ahmed took up playing with

Hoppers Crossing Hoppers Crossing is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, central business district, located within the City of Wyndham Local government areas of Victoria, local government ar ...

in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association, and soon progressed to playing for

Melbourne University The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state of Victoria. Its ...

in Victorian Premier Cricket. Ahmed also participated in Melbourne's largest 'open' T20 event run by Infinity Cricket in 2011 & 2012 representing the Western Warriors who were winners. He was named the Best Bowler of the 2012 Infinity T20 Cricket Tournament. Despite having his initial application declined, he was granted permanent residency in November 2012. Later that month, Ahmed signed with the Melbourne Renegades, having been granted a special exemption to play in the Big Bash League. He made his debut in the Big Bash League in January 2013, taking 0/34 on debut, and was subsequently selected in the Prime Minister's XI to play against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. In five one-day matches for Victoria in the Ryobi One Day Cup in 2012-13 he took 10 wickets at 18.00. He also played in Victoria's last three matches in the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

, taking 16 wickets at 28.37, including 2 for 79 and 5 for 83 against Queensland. In the 2014/15 Bupa Sheffield Shield final, Ahmed took the honour for the best figures in a Shield final. He took 8 for 89 in 40 overs with 9 maidens. On 2 July 2013, Ahmed was granted Australian citizenship, clearing him to play for the full Australian national cricket team. A devout

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, Ahmed has missed training sessions during Ramadan and is known to leave the field to pray during games. He has also requested that logos of sponsors whose activities he does not agree will be removed from his kit and in 2013, the logo of Victoria Bitter was removed from Ahmed's shirt, due to the fact that Islam prohibits alcohol. On 29 August 2013, Ahmed made his Australian debut play in a T20 international against England at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. On 31 March 2015, Ahmed was named in the Australian Test Squad to tour the West Indies and England in 2015 following an outstanding domestic season for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield. Ahmed switched clubs and played for

Sydney Thunder The Sydney Thunder is an Australian franchise professional cricket team, competing in Australia's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition, the Big Bash League. Along with the Sydney Sixers, the Thunder is the successor to the Speed Blitz Blues, ...

during the 2015 Big Bash League season. On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Vancouver Knights in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament. In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament. In 2019 Ahmed signed with the Perth Scorchers in the BBL. In July 2020, he was named in the Trinbago Knight Riders squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. In February 2022, he was drafted by

Lahore Qalandars Lahore Qalandars is a Pakistani professional cricket franchise which plays in the Pakistan Super League, representing Lahore, the capital of Punjab. They are the current champions of the PSL and the most successful team in the tournament's hist ...

as a replacement for

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman (; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and captain of the Afghanistan national team in the T20I format. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide ...

for the remainder of PSL 2022. On 6 January 2023, Ahmed signed with the

Melbourne Renegades Melbourne Renegades are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket club based in Melbourne, the capital city of the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. They compete in the Australian Twenty20 cricket competit ...

in the BBL as a replacement player for

Shaun Marsh Shaun Edward Marsh (born 9 July 1983) is an Australian cricketer who previously played for the Western Australia cricket team in Australian domestic cricket and has represented Australian national cricket team, Australia in all three formats. Ni ...

who had been injured with a hamstring strain.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Fawad 1982 births Abbottabad cricketers Living people Melbourne Renegades cricketers Sydney Thunder cricketers Perth Scorchers cricketers Adelaide Strikers cricketers Pakistan Customs cricketers Australian people of Pashtun descent Pakistani cricketers Pakistani Muslims Pakistani refugees Pakistani emigrants to Australia People from Swabi District Cricketers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Refugees in Australia Victoria cricketers Naturalised citizens of Australia Australian cricketers Quetta Gladiators cricketers Islamabad United cricketers Lahore Qalandars cricketers Trinbago Knight Riders cricketers Australian Muslims Australia Twenty20 International cricketers Australia One Day International cricketers Australian sportspeople of Pakistani descent 21st-century Australian sportsmen