Rehan lines up Trent Bridge final after 'special' hometown game for England

Rehan Ahmed cherished a "special feeling" on Tuesday night as he played international cricket in his home town of Nottingham for the first time - and could play at Trent Bridge again later this month after declaring himself available for Leicestershire's Metro Bank One-Day Cup final against Hampshire.

Rehan, the 19-year-old legspinner, made his Test debut in Pakistan last December and won his first white-ball caps in Bangladesh earlier this year, but England's six-wicket defeat to New Zealand in Nottingham was his first taste of international cricket on home soil.

He was inundated with requests for his four complimentary tickets, estimating that he had seen "150" friends and family in the stands at Trent Bridge. And he impressed with both bat and ball, hitting 11 off 7 before taking 2 for 27 from his four overs.

"It was a special feeling," Rehan said. "Obviously playing abroad is great but playing in front of my home crowd is a different feeling. To be fair, in Pakistan we got a couple of big roars as well but when you are playing at home, especially in Nottingham - I know a lot of people here and am from here - it's special."

He bowled in tandem with Adil Rashid through the middle overs, and admitted that he used to dream of playing alongside his fellow legspinner. "Him and Mo [Moeen Ali] are people we look up to as an Asian community," Rehan said. "Everyone in England looks up to them, so to play with them is a special feeling.

"We talk about bowling quite a bit. He [Rashid] is probably five times the bowler I am: he has four different legspinners, he's played a long time, has a lot of experience. He was young, played and it didn't go well for him; then he came back, and became the best bowler. He's been through a lot."

Rehan is not part of England's ODI squad to play New Zealand and is due to link back up with Leicestershire later this week. He is available for their four-day fixture against Sussex which starts on Sunday, as they bid for promotion to Division One of the County Championship.

He will then join up with England again for a three-match ODI series against Ireland, starting on September 20 at Headingley, but hopes to be involved two days before in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup final.

Rehan has not featured in the competition this season, instead representing Southern Brave in the Hundred, but is eligible to play in the final. Leicestershire will be without Peter Handscomb, who has returned to Australia, but they announced on Wednesday that he will return to the club next summer and in 2025 after signing a two-year contract.

"I've not thought far ahead," Rehan said. "I'll hopefully play some four-day cricket next week, try to get some overs in. I'd like to [play in the final] if I'm free and get picked. The boys are smacking it without me so I don't know if they need me…"

His 15-year-old brother Farhan has been playing for England Under-19s in a one-day series against Australia this week, and was in the stands at Trent Bridge on Tuesday. "I have been watching," Rehan said. "They got smacked 4-1: that never happened to us when we were Under-19s."

Rehan himself only turned 19 last month; he missed England's training session on Monday to take his driving test, with permission from head coach Matthew Mott. He passed "first time, no minors" and said: "It was the Bank Holiday Monday morning in Nottingham, so there was no-one on the road."