Rehan Ahmed: Leicestershire’s England all-rounder on ‘game of life’ against Derbyshire

For some, this was a clear message from Ahmed to England selectors, external ahead of the Ashes series in Australia starting later this year.

Ahmed last featured in a Test match for England in October.

From day one against Derbyshire, Ahmed put on a show that had him anointed as ‘Star-med’ by the end.

He was one of three Foxes players to score a century, with Lewis Hill top-scoring with 151 and Peter Handscomb contributing 101, in Leicestershire’s first inning, which set the Division Two leaders up for the 189-run win that has them edging towards promotion.

The 115 from Ahmed was his third consecutive hundred in the Championship.

He followed that up on day two with a masterful display of spin, taking 6-51 from 20 overs to help bowl the hosts out for 189.

He put on a quickfire 26 with the bat after that to help put Leicestershire in command of the game, before completing his match-winning performance with 7-93 to take his bowling figures to an astonishing 13-144 from 60 overs.

It was a huge haul in what was a top-of-the-table clash of regional rivals who are both challenging for promotion.

“This week was my week, but also it was Pete’s week – he got a 100 and Lewis Hill got a massive 150,” Ahmed said after the match.

“We are all loving each other’s performances, and as long as we keep doing that we’ll be sweet.”