Farhan Ahmed breaks 16-year-old cricketer breaks 159-year-old record

As they say, records are meant to be broken. On Monday, Sixteen-year-old off-spinner Farhan Ahmed created history in county cricket for England, taking a total of 10 wickets for Nottinghamshire in both innings against Surrey. This milestone has made him the youngest bowler to take 10 wickets in a first-class match. Despite his well-oiled bowling and scintillating performance, the match between Nottinghamshire and Surrey ended in a draw.

By taking 10 wickets in a first-class match, the Nottingham-born right-arm off-break bowler broke a 159-year-old record and became the youngest bowler to achieve the feat. Farhan Ahmed eclipsed the previous record held by the late Englishman WG Grace in 1865.

Earlier in first-class cricket, WG Grace had set a world record for taking 10 wickets in a match at the age of 16 years and 340 days. Farhan Ahmed surpassed this feat and achieved this feat at the age of just 16 years and 191 days. Born on 22 February 2008, he also holds the record of the youngest player to take five wickets.

In the match against Surrey, Farhan Ahmed took 7 wickets in the first innings and 3 more wickets in the second innings. Surrey batted first and scored a huge score of 525 runs. Nottinghamshire scored 405 runs in response, giving Surrey a lead of 120 runs. In the second innings of the match, Surrey declared the innings after scoring 177 runs and set Nottinghamshire a target of 298 runs to win. By the end of the last day, Nottinghamshire had scored 121 runs without losing any wickets, resulting in a draw.

Farhan Ahmed has played only 2 first-class matches and 1 List-A match so far, during which he has taken 13 wickets in a first-class innings and 1 wicket in a List-A match. Also, the 16-year-old bowler has represented England in the Under-19 World Series.