Former England and Denmark bowler Amjad Khan has set his sights on a place on the next edition of the European Cricket League with Danish club KB Copenhagen at ECL21.
Aged only 17, Amjad Khan became the youngest ever men’s Denmark international and went on to play test cricket for England.
Amjad now represents Kjøbenhavns Boldklub or "KB", founded in Copenhagen in 1876, a multi-sports club where football and cricket have been played almost ever since. In the first part of the interview, Amjad revealed his desire to have a Dream11 European Cricket Series event in Copenhagen.
Furthermore, Amjad and KB, still retain hope of taking part in ECL21 after the qualification announcement this week.
Skanderborg Stingrays were set to take part as Denmark's representatives at ECL20 before the tournament was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We got to the final and Svanholm beat us to qualify for ECL19,” Amjad said.
“Last season we didn't perform well and didn't deserve anything from T20 cricket. Although, I don't think many would argue that we probably have the best players at KB. We just haven't clicked as a unit yet in T20 cricket.”
To seal a spot at La Manga Club in Spain for ECL21 - provided cricket can be played this season in Denmark - KB would have to win the T20 title, and then follow the pathway recommended to Federations, by beating Skanderborg, Denmark's ECL20 qualifiers, in a play-off.
On his hopes for the coming season, Amjad said: "We worked hard all winter to try and make it happen, but unfortunately COVID-19 got in the way of our plans."
Recalling his early days playing county cricket with Kent, Amjad also paid tribute to Aussie legend Steve Waugh for his guidance.
“I was basically glued to Steve Waugh for a couple of months, getting every bit of information possible and learning from him," he explains. "He was great with me. Steve told the chief executive at Kent: 'Amjad is going to play for England so you need to sort him a contract.'”
Born in Frederiksberg (a suburb of Copenhagen) to Pakistani parents, Amjad's role models were naturally Pakistan swing greats Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram, particularly as he honed the art of reverse swing by watching videos.
"I used to watch Waqar and Wasim all the time and copy them, looking at video tapes again and again. Imran Khan as well. I used to study these video tapes intensely, the seam position and shiny side of the ball," he said.
“I started manipulating the ball in practice, experimenting with my action. For example, lowering my arm for the in-swinger. There's a lot of skill in this and I spent hours and hours in the nets. And I was only 12 years old when I was doing this!”
After finishing his professional cricketing career, Amjad is currently doing a Masters’ degree with a view to qualifying as an intellectual property lawyer in a year's time. But not before playing his part in promoting Danish cricket back to the forefront of Europe once again.
This week, Amjad Khan will join presenter Michael McCann on our European Cricket Studio shows. Tune in to @europeancricket Instagram Live as Amjad teams up with Michael for Monday’s “This is McCann” and “This is McChat” on Wednesday at 5pm CET (4pm UK, 8:30pm India).
