Rehan Ahmed: England Ashes hopeful hits fifth County Championship hundred of season and fourth in five innings
England Ashes hopeful Rehan Ahmed continues sparkling batting form with fifth County Championship hundred of the season and fourth in five innings; 20-year-old scores 119 for Leicestershire against Kent, who have been deducted eight points in Division Two after fourth incident of dissent
Tuesday 29 July 2025 19:42, UK
Get him on the plane to Australia!
Less than a week after taking 13 wickets and scoring a century in the same County Championship game, England's leg-spinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed continued to push his Ashes claims with his FIFTH red-ball hundred of the season and fourth in five innings.
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Rehan has amassed 760 runs at an average of 50.66 for the Foxes in 2025, with this recent purple patch also featuring scores of 136 against Lancashire, 106 versus Glamorgan and 115 against Derbyshire.
Ahmed for the Ashes?
With the ball, he has taken 20 wickets at an average of 15.15 this term - 13 of those scalps coming in one hit against Derbyshire last week as he recorded figures of 6-51 and 7-93.
Liam Dawson is currently England's Test spinner, having stepped in for the injured Shoaib Bashir (finger) for the end of the India series, with those two likely to be the frontline slow bowlers taken to Australia for The Ashes this winter.
But Rehan's form with bat and ball cannot have gone unnoticed by the England selectors, and the way he is going, he might even be an outside bet for a place as specialist batting cover.
Jacob Bethell is currently filling that role in the England squad and will surely head to Australia, while Jordan Cox and James Rew - the latter hit a hundred for Somerset against Nottinghamshire in the Championship on Tuesday - are probably vying to go as back-up wicketkeeper to Jamie Smith.
Kent deducted eight points after another show of dissent
The other big news from Canterbury was that the hosts have been deducted eight points following Daniel Bell-Drummond's show of dissent in last week's defeat to Glamorgan in Cardiff.
It is the fourth time this season a Kent player has shown dissent - after Matthew Parkinson against Glamorgan, Kashif Ali versus Gloucestershire and Tawanda Muyeye against Derbyshire - meaning they have been hit with a penalty.
They are now 26 points adrift of second-bottom Northamptonshire and facing a real battle to avoid the wooden spoon with just four games - including the ongoing one against Leicestershire - left.
Kent have further matches at home to Lancashire and Derbyshire, and at Leicestershire.
