Khaled Ahmed’s first taste of County Championship cricket has already produced a five-wicket haul for Kent, but the Bangladesh pacer says his biggest lessons in England have come away from the field.
Signed by Kent for the final four matches of the County Championship season, Khaled made an immediate impact against Lancashire in Canterbury, taking five for 42 as his side bowled their opponents out for 161. It was his maiden five-wicket haul in county cricket.
Yet it is the culture around county cricket that appears to have made the strongest impression on him.
Speaking in an interview with The Cricket Hub, Khaled explained how the level of responsibility placed on players in England differs from what he has experienced in Bangladesh.
“Our cricket is still developing, whereas English cricket is already well developed,” he said. “(In England) You will be coached before the game starts. They will talk you through any problems, but once you’re on the field, they will leave you alone.
“They support you, they know what your capabilities are and what you’re trying to achieve, but they won’t talk to you about your thoughts during a live game. It’s your responsibility to work things out on the field.”
For Khaled, that responsibility extends far beyond making decisions during a match. He has also had to become more self-reliant in his daily routine.
“They are teaching professionalism through personal responsibility, in terms of your fitness and diet,” he said. “If I was in Bangladesh, I could always leave those things to someone else. I would just ask, and it’s done.
“But here you have to do your own laundry, do your own stretching and carry your own kit bag. After a day’s play, you have to do your own cooking too.”
Those seemingly ordinary tasks have given Khaled a different understanding of what it means to be a professional cricketer.
He has also noticed that the lessons in England are not limited to cricket or physical preparation. Even basic manners, he found, are treated as part of the culture.
“I’ve learnt what professionalism really is,” Khaled said. “They really value politeness, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, unlike in Bangladesh.”
Khaled admitted that he needed time to adjust to that expectation.
“For the first couple of days, I didn’t say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’, so someone took me to one side and asked me why. I apologised, and now I’ve got the habit of always saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.”
Khaled arrived at Kent after fellow Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud was withdrawn from the remainder of his county stint for national duty. His early performances have already given Kent another reason to value his presence.
