The Pakistan Cricket Board has today announced the 15-member Pakistan men’s U19 squad for the tour of England starting 2 September, with a solitary Youth Test match to be played at the Arundel Castle Cricket Ground.

Right-handed batter Farhan Yousaf, who led Pakistan to the ACC U19 Asia Cup title win in December last year, will lead the Pakistan U19 team on the tour, which also includes four Youth ODIs between Pakistan and England.

Among the 15 travelling players are Ahmed Hussain and Usman Khan, both graduates of the PCB-Aitchison College Cricket Scholarship programme launched in September 2021 – a milestone for the initiative as it sees two of its inaugural cohort now representing Pakistan on a senior age-group tour.

The scholarship programme, launched in partnership with Aitchison College, was designed to identify three outstanding young cricketers from the PCB’s pathway programmes each year and offer them fully-funded places at the College from Grade 7 to Grade 9, including for those who could not otherwise afford to attend.

Alongside access to a world-class education, selected players represent Aitchison College’s cricket teams while remaining available to their Cricket Associations for PCB-organised events, with progress tracked by the PCB National High Performance Centre.

Ahmed Hussain and Usman Khan, both from Peshawar, were selected among the programme’s first-ever cohort in 2021 – Ahmed at 14 and Usman at 13 – alongside Ali Hasnain Badshah of Okara. At the time of their selection, Ahmed had scored 283 runs and taken 11 wickets for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U13, plus 100 runs and eight wickets at U16 level, while Usman had scored 172 runs and taken five wickets for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa U13.

Ali Hasnain , who scored 274 runs for Southern Punjab in the U13 tournament, has been named among the U19 squad’s non-travelling reserves for the England tour.

The squad includes a quartet of pacers – Mohammad Sayyam, Abdul Subhan, Rizwanullah and Umar Zaib – along with the spin duo of left-arm wrist-spinner Mohammad Huzaifa and left-arm spinner Niqab Shafiq. Aliyan Salman, Ahmed Hussain, Jahangir Bilal and Hayam Khan are set to provide the squad with all-round support.

Hamza Zahoor and Abdul Qadir are the two wicketkeepers in the squad, while apart from Farhan, Usman Khan and Hasnain Abbas Dar are the designated batters.

The Pakistan U19 team took part in a pre-tour training camp at the National Cricket Academy and concluded it with a two-day red-ball intra-squad match on Tuesday. The contingent will depart for England on Sunday, 30 August, from Lahore.

Among the players, Farhan, Subhan, Ahmed, Hamza, Sayyam, Huzaifa, Niqab, Umar and Usman have already represented Pakistan U19, while the remaining players are in line to make their debut for the team.

Shahid Anwar will be the head coach of the Pakistan U19 team, supported by Rao Iftikhar Anjum (fast bowling coach), Zohaib Khan (spin bowling coach) and Humayun Farhat (fielding coach).

15-member squad: Farhan Yousaf (captain), Abdul Qadir, Abdul Subhan, Ahmed Hussain, Aliyan Salman, Hamza Zahoor, Hasnain Abbas Dar, Hayam Khan, Jahangir Bilal, Mohammad Sayyam, Mohammad Huzaifa, Niqab Shafiq, Rizwanullah, Umar Zaib, Usman Khan.

Non-travelling reserves: Abbas Afridi, Ali Hasnain Badshah, Farhanullah, Hassan Khan and Ibtisam Azhar.

Pakistan U19 tour to England schedule:

1-5 Sep – Only Youth Test, Arundel
9 Sep – 1st Youth 50-over match, Arundel
12 Sep – 2nd Youth 50-over match, Guildford
14 Sep – 3rd Youth 50-over match, Wormsley
16 Sep – 4th Youth 50-over match, Wormsley