University News Last updated 21 July
The founder of the inspirational South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) has praised Birmingham City University (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’s most compelling success stories, offering British South Asian cricketers long-overdue access to professional opportunities in the game.
“It couldn’t have happened without BCU,” said Dr Brown, a former Warwickshire County Cricket Club pathway coach who now serves as SACA’s general manager.
“Sixteen players have come through SACA to play first-class cricket. Jafer Chohan was playing club cricket three years ago. Now he’s in England squads. It’s like a Hollywood film.”
SACA’s impact has been truly game-changing - in more ways than one.
Rooted in Dr Brown’s 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.
“The numbers and representation are getting better,” said Dr Brown. “The number of South Asian cricketers in first-class cricket has doubled in the past three years since SACA was launched.
“Our goal was to get one player a year on a professional contract - we’ve got 16 in three-and-a-half years, among them Jafer and Zaman Akhter, who has played for England Lions.”
SACA’s impressive work has drawn the attention of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), sparking important conversations about equity and inclusion in the sport’s talent systems.
“We’ve proved the point that talent is being missed – that is undeniable,” said Dr Brown.
“The game used to have this mentality that if you weren’t signed to professional terms by the age of 18, you were never going to be good enough.
“We’ve helped demonstrate that this is not the case, that talent travels in different ways.”
SACA’s work, however, is far from finished - and its renewed partnership with BCU is vital.
“Without BCU, we wouldn’t be where we are,” said Dr Brown. “Funding is key. We are a non-profit organisation, so it is up to the funders to decide how long we go for.”
Professor Adam Kelly, Professor of Sport and Exercise at BCU and a global expert in talent development, believes the partnership is incredibly valuable.
“It was a bold move by BCU to invest in SACA in its early days, but that decision has truly paid off - it’s helped drive real change,” he said.
“When 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.”
Professor David Mba, BCU Vice-Chancellor, believes the “best is yet to come”.
He said: “This partnership with SACA reflects everything we stand for at BCU - using research, education, and community engagement to break down barriers and drive meaningful change.
“We’re 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.
“The progress so far has been extraordinary - and we believe the best is yet to come.”
Professor Kelly says continuing the partnership was a “no-brainer”.
“Not only have we renewed it, we’re building on it. In September, we launched an exciting new pilot project to continue pushing boundaries.”
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.
“I want to make inclusivity relevant to the people I teach or coach,” said Omar. “One goal is to make the talent pathway more objective by developing tools to support coaches and recruiters.”
Hina’s research has already highlighted major underrepresentation of South Asian and Black female cricketers within the ECB’s talent systems.
“A 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,” 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: “BCU is excited to continue our partnership with SACA and to further develop our research into inequalities in cricket.
“The 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.
“As 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.”
Pictured (from left): Hina Shafi, Professor Adam Kelly, Dr Tom Brown, and Omar Green.