South Asian Cricket Academy turns rejected county players into professionals

Savin Perera was 27 when a Surrey academy coach asked him why he didn't have a professional contract. A week after leading South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to an eight-wicket victory over Surrey's second XI, Perera signed with Somerset's one-day squad and scored 58 on debut.

His trajectory mirrors exactly why SACA exists. Founded in 2022 by Tom Brown, then Warwickshire's performance coach, the non-profit addresses a systemic gap: at Warwickshire, 50 percent of young cricketers in the talent pathway were of British-South Asian heritage, yet none reached the professional level. Nationally, the disparity is similar—30 percent of recreational cricketers are South Asian, but they represent just 5 percent of the professional domestic game.

Counties typically release hundreds of young cricketers at 18 without warning or guidance. Brown discovered through ECB-funded PhD research that the drop-off wasn't due to player deficiency. "There were a lot of things with the talent system that I wanted to highlight, and none of it was a short-term fix," Brown says.

The timing of SACA's launch proved crucial. Brown's research coincided with heightened scrutiny of English cricket, including the ICEC report on racism, making the findings harder to ignore. SACA began in the Midlands with around 30 players in year one and secured four county contracts that season. Four years later, the organisation has grown to five regional hubs, fielding men's first and second teams plus standalone women's sides.

The numbers show momentum: 19 players have earned county contracts through SACA, compared to four in the first year. Yet the core challenge remains unchanged. "Counties often just guess who to retain," Brown tells The Athletic. "Spin bowlers won't peak until their late 20s. Many players have growth spurts in their late teens and won't be used to their body until much later, by which point the system has given up."

Volunteer coaches, many with professional playing experience, work without pay. Gemaal Hussain, who played professionally for Gloucestershire, Somerset and Northamptonshire between 2009-2014, observes that talent assessments at 18 are unreliable. "There are other qualities that develop later which allow you to play for longer at a higher level, and that's what SACA aims to catch," he says.

The environment SACA creates balances professionalism with recovery from rejection. Amogh Karpe, a 20-year-old Materials Science student at Oxford University, told The Athletic he had "never enjoyed cricket more than my year here, after the unnecessary pressure I experienced in the county setup." After a poor debut, the coaching staff "put their arms around me and have brought back my best form," Karpe recalls.

On matchday against Surrey, players arrived three hours early, mixed intensive net sessions with casual football matches, then switched into focused professionalism once play began. Brown moves between nets, laptops and conversations, acting as coach, mentor, motivator and increasingly as agent.

The broader talent system issue remains unresolved, but SACA's approach—backing players when established pathways have discarded them—has produced measurable results. For players like Perera, a second chance arrived at exactly the right moment.