My First Contract with Jafer Chohan

By Angus Wilson

The simple act of signing your name on the dotted line can change your life. A small flourish of a pen carries the weight of a childhood dream.

So let us introduce Jafer Chohan. A 21-year-old leg spinner from London who is living that dream.

Upon being selected as a bowler for a Men's England net, he dismissed Joe Root and Ben Duckett - with the former then personally recommending him to Yorkshire County Cricket Club as a youngster worth looking at.

A trial with the club followed, where Jafer was rewarded with his first-ever rookie contract. Fairytale stuff.

Here's the chapter-by-chapter and what signing your first contract in cricket is like. Not ignoring the two-year professional contract extension Chohan signed days before with Yorkshire and ahead of the Southern Brave announcing him as their Wildcard pick for The Hundred this year.

Jafer, congrats on your contract extension. You've had an incredible 3 years…
I'm not getting too excited about everything. At the end of the day, this is what I've been wanting to do my whole life.

You've also got to enjoy it. It's about me focusing on what I need to do to improve. How am I going to get here? As well as just enjoying the ride as well. You don't know how long this is going to last, right?

Your story of being 'spotted' at an England men's net is the stuff of dreams. Can you describe how that unfolded?
You think, "Oh, if I bowl really well, it could lead somewhere." But you also think, realistically, "Yeah, probably not."

I bowled so many balls, and I can't lie - I may have missed a couple of lectures in the build-up to it.

I did a hell of a lot of red ball bowling as well for that because they were prepping for a test series.

When I'm on a bigger stage and bowling to better players, it brings out the best in me. Some other lads were enjoying it cause you're bowling at England players. I was taking it as if it was a match scenario.

And then, obviously, for that [receiving a trial], it is the stuff of dreams.

Having Joe [Root] say to me, "Well bowled", made my day. Then for him to come up and speak to me afterwards, I was a bit starstruck.

For quite a while, it didn't seem real. I didn't really tell many people cause I was like, nobody's gonna believe me if I tell them this!

What were the deliveries to Joe and Ben – can you describe them and your thought process behind them?

Re: Duckett - I didn't get to bowl to him for too long but (before he started sweeping me all over the place) he ran past the googly, which I don't think he (Duckett) picked cause he tried to turn it into the leg side. So that's a satisfying one as a leggy and a 'mystery' spinner if someone's not picking your googly. That's almost as good as bowling the perfect leggy.

Re: Root - I found it so hard to bowl to him. I felt like I was bowling really well, but he was just going back and knocking everything easily for singles. So because he was playing me a lot off the back foot easily, I bowled him a couple of sliders, and I remember sliding one on and bowling him. Then, as we were bowling in some turning nets, when I managed to get him on the front foot, I nicked him off once as well.

Do you remember the first person you told after the net ended?
I called my dad. I don't think he could really believe it as well.

What was the signing day like? Were you suited and booted with your family flanked on either side?
It was actually a lot simpler than that! I got my agent to read through it, so I don't have to do too much. And once he okayed it, it's all clear to sign. I had to do a little bit of work on my signature because it used to be pretty shocking.

Had you practised your signature before signing the contract?
TikTok actually inspired it. I went onto it to see different ways of making a signature with a J.

Do you remember the first thing you did after leaving the building?
After signing it, I went home and made dinner for my whole family. Nothing too exciting, but I did have a dessert.

Did you reward yourself with a special gift to mark the achievement?
I've always been grateful for everything my friends and family have done for me in getting here. So, I like to splash out on them.

I bought my mum a pair of trainers…which she has returned. But we'll find her another gift! I'll probably end up getting myself another pair of trainers spike up.

We did notice you're a pro who dons a pair of custom cricket spikes on the wicket… what's your reason for going custom?
I've done it for the last two years. I've got tennis shoes spiked up - not because I've had issues with normal cricket spikes - but more because I'm quite into shoes and clothes, so I like to look and feel good out there.

I want to express, and if I look the part, that helps me confidence-wise and mentally. Not that long ago, I started batting with a wristband, and it made me feel more like a proper batsman, and I started batting better.

How has the Yorkshire team helped you settle?
Yeah, I was a bit nervous about coming to a side like Yorkshire, where I'd be quite different being from London. So I wasn't sure how I'd settle in, so that was the biggest concern. But since I've come here, everyone's been great and really welcoming. I had a few chats with some senior players like Matt Fisher, and on tour in South Africa, I had a long chat with Matt Milnes about the mental side of the game. That's always a tough thing you're gonna have [as a player], especially if you have some dry spells, thinking, "Am I really good enough? How long do I have left?". So it's good getting an insight from Matt because he had a similar way of getting into cricket via University cricket.

And as if what you've achieved in the last few years isn't enough, you've now been selected as a Wildcard for The Hundred…
Yeah, that was about the most excited I've been since I first signed. I think the day before the draft, I saw Josh (my agent) gave me a call, and I was on the tube, so I missed his first one, but then I had a feeling what it might have been, so I called him back straight away, and he told me the news that it's quite likely that Southern Brave would pick me. There was a silent celebration on the train. I must have looked like a bit of a loony.

Note: This interview was edited for clarity and brevity***