Arafat Bhuiyan

Arafat Bhuiyan (born 11 October 1996) is a Bangladeshi cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club as a bowler. Born in Dhaka on 11 October 1996, he moved to England when he was 14 and signed professional terms with Kent in 2023 after graduating from the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA).

Career

Arafat Bhuiyan was born at Dhaka in Bangladesh in 1996, but moved to England when he was 14 to play cricket. Starting in 2017, he played for the Second XIs of Surrey, Essex and Derbyshire County Cricket Clubs as well as for Kent. He also played for the Marylebone Cricket Club's Young Cricketers. In the winter of 2022, he enrolled in the South Asian Cricket Academy in Birmingham.

For the 2023 season, he was playing club cricket for Blackheath Cricket Club in the Kent Cricket League but also playing for Kent's 2nd XI. On 17 May 2023, he signed his first professional contract with Kent for the rest of the 2023 season. He made his County Championship debut against Surrey at The Oval the next day. On day two of the match, he took the wickets of Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith, Ben Foakes and Will Jacks with bowling figures of 4/65 in his first innings.

Arafat is eligible to play for the Bangladesh national cricket team but also qualifies for the England national cricket team through residency and as a British passport holder.