Derbyshire and England U19 off spinner, Hamidullah Qadri, stressed the importance of maintaining his school studies alongside playing professional cricket after he received his A-level results this week.
Qadri is amongst over 300,000 18-year-olds who have been anxiously waiting for their results since their exams ended six weeks ago.
However, he also experienced the unique pressure of balancing his studies with making a name for himself in professional cricket, whether it’s on the domestic scene with Derbyshire or the international scene with England U19.
The Professional Cricketers’ Association runs a multi-faceted Personal Development and Welfare Programme (PDWP) which aims to improve cricketers’ performances by minimising distractions during their playing careers, as well as helping them to better prepare for life after cricket.
The Association actively encourages players of Qadri’s age to maintain some level of study outside of cricket in order to become more well-rounded individuals.
Qadri, who took exams in Biology, Chemistry and Geography at Chellaston College, Derby, recognises the importance of completing his studies.
“I enjoy the studying side of things,” he said.
“Obviously playing cricket all the time adds a bit of pressure and it’s quite easy to become stuck in the cricket bubble. Taking your mind away from the game sometimes just gives you a good bit of perspective.”
Not resting on his laurels, the young bowler is keen to continue broadening his horizons in the future.
“I’m definitely hoping to do a degree at some point, maybe in medicine or physiotherapy.
“Next year I’m going to take a gap year and see where things go with my cricket, and then after that I’ll see if I can do a full-time or part-time degree.
“With exam results out of the way for now, hopefully the weather will get a bit drier and I can get a few more games for Derbyshire in before the end of the season.”
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