Young Gun – Andrew Umeed

With gritty Scot Dougie Brown now in charge of his beloved county, fellow countryman Andrew Umeed believes there is no better coach to help him develop as successfully.

Brown had displayed his tenacity when, after his illustrious Warwickshire career had been ended by a severe Achilles injury, he played for Scotland one last time at the 2007 t20 World Cup.

And Umeed, 19, has already started tracing Brown’s footsteps into the Scotland set-up, being named in the country’s initial 24-man World Cup squad before missing the final cut.

He said: “Dougie was the academy coach when I first came in so he’s been a big influence on me and I’ve got a good relationship with him.

“He keeps us in check and working hard and it’s good to have someone with a similar background coaching me.

“It was a big deal being involved in the Scotland squad – I’d been involved in two U19 World Cups. Unfortunately I missed out on the full World Cup squad but I kind of expected that as there was not a tour in between camp and the tournament so there was not a chance to push my case.

“It was unfortunate that Scotland didn’t get a win as they’d worked really hard over the last six to eight months on their ODI skills.

“Getting that first win is crucial – considering how well we’ve done, it’s disappointing we couldn’t quite get over the line.”

After signing an academy contract with Warwickshire, Umeed starred for Scotland in the 2014 U19 World Cup in Dubai, top-scoring with 44 and 65 against India and Pakistan respectively.

Yet the Glaswegian reveals that his involvement in the 2012 edition in Australia almost threatened to derail a fledgling Bears career.

“I wasn’t involved in a massive way but it was still a great experience to be there and then it was good to get a few runs in Dubai” he added.

“That 2012 World Cup was in summer so I couldn’t get down to trials and games for Warwickshire but I fortunately then had quite a few games for the U17 and U19 teams in 2013.

“Then I got a two-year academy deal followed by the professional contract so I’ve now got a massive opportunity to be around experienced players.

“The talent in the Warwickshire dressing room is unbelievable – you start taking on more professional approaches without even realising.”

After scoring an impressive century for the 2nd XI against Derbyshire last season, Umeed is hoping to carry that form into the new season.

And the youngster is no stranger to a challenge, having spent the winter testing himself on Sub-continent pitches in Pakistan.

“I was in Pakistan for two months before Christmas as I’ve got family out there and it was really good to play at the Saeed Ajmal Academy,” he said.

“The facilities there were good but obviously tougher compared to England and it was great to experience different conditions and different challenges.

“My aim is just to do as well as I can in whatever team I’m playing for – I’ve never been one for looking miles in front of me as I tend to lose sight of what’s happening so I’m just going to concentrate on scoring runs in each game I play.”

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