Can England afford to gamble on Rehan Ahmed?

If Rehan Ahmed does become the youngest participant in an Ashes series this week, he will have prepared more extensively than the vast majority of the field in its 141-year existence.

For one story doing the rounds during Ahmed’s maiden winter as a full England international tells of how immersed the talented teenager is in cricket culture.

Concerned about how the Leicestershire leg-spinner was coping on tour with the senior squad, the coaching staff inquired how he was spending his free time.

They also knew of his addiction to the sport and were therefore unsurprised at the answer.

Ahmed, 18, had been shadow-batting against a simulator after hours, with the current Australian attack selected as opponents. Josh Hazlewood’s bounce and movement were particularly tricky to counter, he reckoned.

Rehan Ahmed could become the youngest participant in an Ashes series this coming week

He could be set for another cap after taking seven wickets on debut in Pakistan in the winter

He’s worked with Brendon McCullum (right) and Ben Stokes already but his potential selection doesn’t come without risk

It is not for his batting, of course, that Ahmed — who became England’s youngest debutant in all three formats on overseas trips during the 2022-23 season — once again stands on the verge of history.

Whether he becomes the youngest shaver of the Ashes and second tenderest in years in England v Australia Tests since Australia’s Tom Garrett featured in the first two matches between the sides in Melbourne in 1877 depends on the state of Moeen Ali’s sore spinning finger.

Moeen is just two short of becoming only the third English spinner to take 200 wickets in Tests and will play at Lord’s, according to coach Brendon McCullum, if fit. The problem is judging what fitness looks like: even if Moeen’s wound heals, it could re-open, restricting his effectiveness and limiting his contribution.

Moeen has been here before, of course, most notably on the Ashes tour of 2017-18, but the problem this time is that the skin on his hands is not as hardened as it once was, due to a recent 21-month absence from first-class action.

Ahmed has no such problem, although it has infuriated the England hierarchy that a player selected for his country in Test, one-day and Twenty20 cricket over the past nine months has been under-employed as a bowler by crisis club Leicestershire.

While the national team continue to incorporate his talent, nominating him as concussion replacement for Jack Leach and Moeen in the two internationals on home soil this summer, and opted for his wrist spin ahead of finger spinners Will Jacks and Liam Dawson when looking for cover against the Australians, his development at Grace Road has stalled.

His 2023 county cricket season started badly when stiff and cold on the opening day of April 6, his first over cost 22 runs — a no-ball adding to the 20 from Yorkshire opener Finlay Bean’s bat. He still managed four wickets across Leicestershire’s victory at Headingley but has added just two more victims to his fledgling career tally since, and has averaged 67.66 with the ball in Division Two.

What most exasperated the England set-up was when, during a seamer-dominated match versus Worcestershire in May, Ahmed was not invited to bowl a single delivery in a chase of 271 that the home side completed in the 104th over.

His selection depends on the fitness of Moeen Ali, who has been struggling with a finger issue

He has struggled for Leicestershire in red ball cricket this season and has been under-bowled

In McCullum and Stokes (right), however, he has leaders who are keen to attack during games

But in McCullum and captain Ben Stokes, the 18-year-old has two men who have shown time and again their fondness for all things attacking. And so, if Moeen is ruled out, they will attempt to reawaken a talent that began Test cricket with a bang, taking seven wickets on debut in Pakistan last winter.

Once the nerves dissipated in Karachi, Ahmed cracked open the Pakistan middle order in the second innings, showing his googly to be a weapon to be reckoned with.

Like a teenage Adil Rashid before him, it is worth remembering that Ahmed is essentially a batter who bowls — he has 565 runs at a strike rate of 75 this season.

But it is for his bowling, which would be used alongside Joe Root’s off-spin, that he would be asked to offer a point of difference, and outfox an Aussie tail end that outlasted England at Edgbaston.