Playing for England 'Would be a dream come true’ - Hameed

Talented and humble in equal measure; Haseeb Hameed could be about to realise a lifelong ambition of playing at the highest level of the game. Should he be selected for the winter tours to Bangladesh and India, the Bolton-born batsman has the opportunity to open the batting for England 88 days shy of his 20th birthday, making him the youngest player to represent England in Test cricket since Ben Hollioake debuted against Australia in 1997 alongside his brother, Adam.

Both James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff were capped at the age of 20 and Hameed could be the first Lancashire teenager to play for England after a staggering 12 months under Ashley Giles at Emirates Old Trafford.

With most young cricketers, there is an argument in favour of letting them develop at county level before they are put in front of the quickest and most skilful bowlers in the world. However, after just 12 County Championship appearances in 2016, Hameed defied his tender age to become Lancashire’s youngest player to reach 1,000 runs in a season, achieving several other records in an eye-catching summer for the Red Rose county.

Despite breaking the record for England’s highest score in One-Day Internationals, Alex Hales appears to have fallen out of favour at the top of the order alongside captain Alastair Cook in red-ball cricket, with the Nottinghamshire batsman averaging just 18 across the four-match series against Pakistan this summer.

There are other candidates; South African Keaton Jennings, who is the leading run-scorer in the four-day contest this season, qualified to represent England in March. Nick Gubbins has also topped 1,000 runs for Middlesex this campaign, while Mark Stoneman has made the switch from Durham to Surrey in order to pursue his international aspirations.

Lancashire’s teenage maestro admits that playing and mastering Test cricket for England is his primary ambition, with the extra responsibility of international cricket being the perfect test for his sink-or-swim attitude.

Hameed has represented England at Under-15, 17 and 19 level and was captain of the Under-19 side.

“If I was to get the nod, that would be a dream come true,” said Hameed. “I have always dreamed of playing for England. I’ve always felt that I develop quicker by being challenged. I’m sure that if I were to go out there [Banglasdesh] it would be a massive challenge, but hopefully I’ll be better for it.

“Obviously, Test cricket is the pinnacle of cricket. I don’t know if youngsters still see it in the same way in this day and age, but I know a lot of people who play Test cricket, or even one-day cricket, that still regard Test cricket as the highest point within their career and the one that they want to master,” he added.

There are few sterner measures of a batsman’s credentials than playing against Yorkshire and Hameed – a player of incredible maturity and consistency – scored hundreds in both innings of the meeting at Manchester. It was the first time this had been achieved by a Lancashire player in a Roses encounter and it helped Hameed to reach 1,000 runs for the season quicker than Michael Atherton, who was 21 when he achieved the same feat for the Red Rose in 1989.

Dubbed ‘The Bolton Wall’ for his unshakeable conviction at the crease, Hameed battled hard for over five hours in the first innings against Yorkshire for 114, before scoring the fastest of his four hundreds this season in just 124 balls, an innings that showed his versatility after being branded as a red-ball specialist.

Hameed said: “The Yorkshire game was a special occasion. It was my first Roses game at home and it’s always nice to be able to play in front of a big crowd. It’s not just about them being Yorkshire. It’s the fact that they’re the current two-time champions and they’re going for three back-to-back championships. It’s not just about them being the old enemy; they’ve also got a really good side.

Hameed could become the fifth-youngest Test debutant for England this winter.

“To be able to back my first innings with my second innings, which was a different hundred in terms of the way I had to play, and if you look at Hampshire the week before that was the complete opposite where we were batting out for the draw. To be able to score runs in that contrasting manner was really pleasing for me and I would definitely say that was my proudest moment so far for Lancashire," he added.

Having made his First Team debut in August last year against Glamorgan, Hameed has already scored 1,386 runs at an average of 51.33, achieving a score of fifty or more on eleven occasions this season. The innings that showcased his potential was undoubtedly the home fixture against Surrey at Old Trafford last September, with his gritty 91 saving a draw for Lancashire, who were in pursuit of back-to-back promotions to the first division at the time. This was only his third match for Lancashire, but the immediate signs were promising.

Hameed ended his search for a maiden first-class hundred this season against Warwickshire, with another of Lancashire's rising stars, Liam Livingstone, also scoring a century in the second innings at Old Trafford. The 19-year-old batsman admits that he was relieved to record his first ton, with the responsibility of representing Lancashire providing the perfect incentive to rise to the challenge of playing against Division One opposition.

Commenting on his maiden century against Warwickshire, he said:"It was a massive relief as much as anything because I had got a few fifties before then and one of the frustrating things for me was not being able to go on and get that first hundred, so to be able to tick that off was pleasing and I think that helped me moving forwards. To be able to do it against a really good attack in Warwickshire was pleasing.

Hameed signed a four-year deal over the winter and has scored 1,129 runs at 53.76 this season.

"You’ve got to embrace the challenge because of your age and opening the batting for Lancashire. It is a massive club with a massive history and there is a lot of responsibility with that. You know that teams are going to come hard at you and target you, so you’ve always got to enjoy it."

Hameed hopes to broaden his scope outside of the red-ball format after reaching such an accomplished level already for Lancashire. His strong technique is something that his father encouraged from a young age, with family playing a key role in his development through the age groups at Lancashire. With a desire to play for club and country in all three formats, Hameed is aiming to build on mastering the basics by continuously adding strokes to his repertoire, in order to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Joe Root and Virat Kohli.

"I’m confident that as long as you’ve got the basics right that you can add to your game and you can develop from there. I know that it might look like I’m airing towards the more traditional side of the game, but it is slightly easier to go from being a solid red-ball player and adding shots to your game so that you can use them to be successful with the white ball, as opposed to the other way around.

"I’ve got a massively supportive family who love cricket. We’ve always been a cricket-mad family. I’ve got two older brothers that my dad worked extremely hard behind, but they weren’t quite able to make it to this level for various reasons. That inspired me to make it at the highest level and I’ve always had that belief that hopefully one day I will make it and be successful."

With Lancashire attempting to avoid the ignominy of three successive relegations from the first division, Hameed's consistency at the top of the order could prove vital. Former club captain, Tom Smith, looks unlikely to feature again this season due to a tight hamstring and Lancashire are without a distinguished opening partner for their 19-year-old prodigy. 

Lancashire start their final home game of the season against Middlesex on Monday 12th September, before travelling to Edgbaston for the last game of 2016 against Warwickshire.