Warwickshire will almost certainly look back on 2013 as
a year when injuries and international calls have hampered their ability to
field their best eleven, so that results have been unsatisfactory in all
competitions.
One consequence of these problems has been an increase
in opportunities for players who were previously on the fringes of the
team. Laurie Evans is one example of a
player who has benefited from increased opportunities. The other player who has taken his chances
and established himself in the team is Ateeq Javid.
Ateeq has scored steadily in four-day cricket,
culminating in a maiden first-class hundred against Somerset in late August. His 133 lasted all of seven hours and 309
balls. Coming in at a precarious 38-3,
he shared in a stand of 269 with the aforesaid Evans.
In addition, he has discovered a new role for himself as
an off-spinner in one-day cricket. He has
regularly bowled the first over in T20 games and, in combination with fellow
spinner Jeetan Patel, has often kept things tight in mid-innings.
Born in Aston and educated at Aston Manor School, Ateeq
has no strong family connections in the game, other than cousins with whom he
played in the back garden when he was aged about seven. Now twenty one, Ateeq has come through the
youth teams with Warwickshire, starting at age nine. He was in the Warwickshire Academy at
15. “I did really well,” says
Ateeq. “I got some chances in the second
team and then I was called into the office by Ash (Ashley Giles). He said that he wanted me to sign a
professional contract. I was 16 by this
time so I left school and signed on.”
Ateeq played a couple of first-class games in 2009 when
still only 17. “I didn’t get too many
runs but I did spend time in the middle against Durham.” Then he served his apprenticeship in the
second team. In addition, he played for
England at under-19 level including the 2009/10 under-19 World Cup in
Bangladesh. In the next three seasons, however,
he played less than half a dozen first-class games.
Ateeq used the time to develop his skills. He was helped by a winter in Melbourne where,
as he says, “I toughened up my game.” So
when the injuries struck Warwickshire early in the 2013 season, he was ready to
take his chance. He did well on the
pre-season tour of Barbados, putting together several useful scores and, when
the opportunity came, he seized it with both hands.
With his bowling performances in the T20 competition,
does Ateeq see himself as an all-rounder?
“Yes, definitely I do now,” he says. “I wasn’t too sure before but it
just shows what happens if you keep working at things. It keeps me in the game, which I like. Jeetan Patel has been a great help. Every time I see him, I try to get some
information from him. Sometimes he gets
a bit irritated if I won’t leave him alone but I’m trying to learn all the
time.”
As his century against Somerset demonstrates, Ateeq’s
natural game is to dig himself in and bat for a long time. Increasingly, however, he is able to adapt
his tempo to the situation, as is demonstrated by the fact that his first-class
strike rate is only around 35 but it increases to 88 for List A games.
Ateeq nominates Warwickshire’s Director of Cricket Dougie Brown as the biggest influence on his
career to date. “He’s known my game since I was 15. He’s seen me express myself
in the second team so he’s given me the confidence to go out and do the same in
the first team.”
I asked Ateeq to comment on the fact that Dougie
recently described Ateeq as a “little streetfighter”. “Actually,” he says, “the Sussex coach Mark
Robinson said the same thing when he was coach to the England under-19s. I think they mean that I’m smart on the
pitch, can read situations and can take care of myself. Come to think of it, I guess that’s how
Dougie himself played so I feel pretty good about that.”
Dougie is unstinting in his praise of Ateeq. “One of the
great things about Teeqy is if you ask him to do something with the bat he
basically follows it to the letter. He
doesn’t give his wicket away and he is a brilliant character with a great
attitude towards everything he does – batting, bowling and training.”
With such words ringing in his ears, it’s not surprising
that Ateeq’s ultimate aim is to play for England. “What I’ve done so far is
only the beginning. At under-19 level, I
played with guys like Joe Root and Ben Stokes so if they can make the step up to
the full England team, I don’t see why I can’t do the same. I just have to keep working on my game,
scoring runs and taking wickets. Ideally, I want to bat at four or five for
Warwickshire so that I get the opportunities to show what I can do but it’s tough
working your way up the order when there are so many all-rounders in the team.
I don’t want to play just for the sake of it.
I want to contribute massively to the team effort.”
This winter, Ateeq aims to go abroad again and work on
his game. “I’m starting to mature now so
I know where I need to improve. I just
have to get my head down and work on some key areas. With the ball, I need to understand my action
a bit more, apply what I’ve learnt from Jeetan and improve both tactically and
technically. With the bat, I need to convert more half-centuries into hundreds.”
So there you have it.
Ateeq’s combination of talent and attitude make him a strong bet for
future success for Warwickshire and, quite possibly, for England. If either team find themselves in a tight
corner, they could do a lot worse than send for the little streetfighter.