Ateeq Javid believes there is an abundance of cricket talent waiting to be unearthed by Warwickshire in inner-city Birmingham.
And the 22-year-old would love it if his own emergence as an established member of the Bears’ first-team squad helps to convince the next generation that a career in professional cricket can be a genuine aspiration for them.
For some years the club had sought to improve links with the city centre and break down the perception that professional cricket remains still largely for the white comfortably well-off.
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Warwickshire Cricket Board has done much good work towards achieving that objective. But perhaps the best incentive of all for the city’s youngsters of Asian origin to strive for a working life in cricket is for someone to have shown it is possible.
Javid has done that. Born and raised close to Aston Villa’s ground, he attended Prince Albert Primary School and Aston Manor Secondary School before breaking through to play for Warwickshire and England through his teenage years.
He travelled widely during successive winters with England age-group squads and last year blossomed for the Bears as a first-team cricketer. All being well, spin-bowling all-rounder Javid is set for a fine and long career. And he wants the boys coming through now to also grasp the opportunities there for them.
Warwickshire would benefit. But most importantly the boys would benefit.
“There are a definitely a lot of talented youngsters there,” said Javid. “A lot of young people in Birmingham, especially from an Asian background, play cricket and they just need pointing in the right direction and challenging in the right way.
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“There is a lot of talent out there but there is a culture difference in coming from the Asian background into this kind of environment.
“I started cricket when I was four or five years old, playing with my cousins in the back garden at home just around the corner from the Villa ground. I always really enjoyed playing and just grew into it. It was a family sport with my brother, uncles and cousins. I just mingled in and took to it.
“I played a lot at school and captained a lot all the way through from Year Three.
“In that area it is really important that young guys growing up get into sport. It kept us off the streets and that kind of stuff. It is a way to enjoy yourself and not hang around and maybe get into trouble.
“Some youngsters get the privilege of going to private school but it wasn’t like that for us. We played on the street and just enjoyed our cricket whenever and wherever we could and it was a really good way of spending time after school instead of just messing about on the streets.”
Javid possessed the ability and, just as importantly, he had the desire to break through into professional cricket. And his presence as an important all-rounder in Warwickshire’s senior squad can only act as a spur to those now coming through school.
“I hadn’t really thought about that but I hope it helps,” he said. “I was really lucky because I had the hunger and the drive from an early age and then I was lucky to have Dougie Brown around as academy coach backing me all the way through. But when I was growing up there was no real idol in the Warwickshire team in terms of having come from where I have come from.
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“But it’s great now to go to games, especially Twenty20 games, and look around and see a lot of young kids and they and their parents talk to me and ask questions because they are really interested.”
Javid has made the breakthrough into the Bears team but is still only in the very early stages of his career and is the first to admit he still has much to achieve - and to prove.
“I never take anything for granted,” he said. “I am so lucky that I enjoy cricket so much. You see some people who just do to because it is their job but I love playing cricket. That’s all I want to do.
“The championship hasn’t gone ideally for me this season but I have been playing really well in the T20. In Twenty20 you can just go out there and look to hit the ball instead of thinking about too many things so hopefully I can continue doing that and then get another chance in the championship and take it.
“I just love playing for the Bears and want to follow in the footsteps of people like Ian Bell, Chris Woakes and Jim Troughton. If you want to sum up a Warwickshire player you look at Jim Troughton, the way he goes about his training and talks about cricket and being part of the club. That’s what makes this club special - I don’t see that togetherness and those values at every club.”