Muhammad Ashfaq

Muhammad Ashfaq is a Blackburn-based mystery spinner who has performed with distinction in both the Liverpool and North Wales Premier Leagues over the past two seasons.

A latecomer to the game, the truncated 2020 season was his first in ECB registered cricket. He made up for lost time, taking 13 wickets at 15.92 for Formby, including notable figures of 4-21 (6.2) and 3-31 (9) in successive weeks against Liverpool powerhouses Bootle and Ormskirk, respectively.

Seeking further opportunities, Ashfaq headed to the North Wales ECB Premier League in 2021 and continued to shine for Bangor, taking 38 wickets at 15.16, alongside 238 runs at 21.45 to evidence his batting ability.

However, it's his unique skill set that has impressed both clubs. Ashfaq is an off-spinner with as many as eight variations, including the carrom ball, googly, leg-spinner, flipper, top-spinner, arm ball, and even a back-spinner.

It’s a surprise that he hasn’t played league cricket over the years - he only started to take cricket seriously back in 2017. During that year, whilst in Pakistan, he was invited to the Karachi Kings talent hunt program. The following year, he was involved with the Peshawar Zalmi talent hunt tournament.

This sparked his interest in cricket, especially when he realised he had a gift with ball-in-hand. Roll on 2020, and he was picked up by Formby for their Liverpool campaign.

The mystery spinner now has the “cricket bug” and is eager to impress in league cricket for Greenmount this summer before exploring opportunities down under in 2022/23.