When Saif took the field for Northamptonshire in their non-first-class fixture at Durham UCCE in May 2014 he became the first 15-year-old ever to represent the County’s first-team – underlining his precocious talent and enormous potential as batsman and left-arm spinner.

Zaib made his List A debut against Leicestershire in the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2015. Three more Championship matches fell his way in 2016 including five wickets in a marathon stint against Leicestershire.

Ahead of the 2015 season he shone for England’s Under 17s against Pakistan U17s in Dubai, scoring three successive half-centuries. He was schooled at RGS Wycombe, where his innings of 230 became a school record.

Zaib performed whenever called upon by the first-team in 2019, including a crucial and potentially match winning innings at Derbyshire in the County Championship.

He has built upon that experience since, performing at a very high level for the first team throughout 2021. Hitting over 500 runs in the 2021 County Championship and showing consistently high numbers in white ball cricket as well, Zaib has become a reliable all round performer.