Amar Virdi

Amar Virdi was one of four Surrey players to make history when he made his third Championship appearance for the county, against Middlesex in 2017. Virdi joined Sam Curran, Ollie Pope and Ryan Patel as the first quartet of teenagers to play for a county since World War 2 and only the fifth in county history.

Virdi, an tall offbreak bowler, made his England Under-19 debut in 2016 and a year later graduated to the Lions squad on a tour of Australia where they were shadowing the Ashes senior squad.

His ability was such that he dislodged Surrey's veteran offspinner Gareth Batty from the Championship side in 2018, Batty conceding the captaincy to Rory Burns to make way. His record of 39 wickets at around 30 was a solid start, capped by his six wickets against Worcestershire.

He suffered a stress-related back injury the following winter, but continued to be left out even after he had recovered on account of his general fitness. He was involved in a bizarre regulation mix-up in a Championship game in 2019, when he was told when padded up to bat at No. 11 that he was unable to do so: Kent had agreed to let him step in as a substitute for Batty, who was ill, but the match officials were only made aware that the move was not permitted at the last possible minute. He played in the next game though, and returned 14 for 139 against Nottinghamshire to allay any concerns that he was losing his way.
ESPNcricinfo staff