JOHANNESBURG, June 12: But for the extra “a”, there might have been a flurry of international interest in the fact that captain of South African Under-19 cricket team to tour England next month is one Imraan Khan.

Like the great Pakistani, 19-year-old Imraan is an allrounder, albeit an offspinning one. He is no stranger to under-19 international cricket, as he visited New Zealand in 2000-01 and also played in last year’s World Cup there.

Imraan, who was born in Durban, captained South African Schools in 2001, and made the leap to senior provincial level in the recently completed 2002-03 season, in which he played five limited-overs matches for KwaZulu-Natal.

He said: “Our tour is important, because it’s from ventures like this that you find your next generation of Test cricketers.”

Surprisingly, perhaps, he was not named after the other Imran Khan,and he comes from a family that is more at home on the soccer pitch than the cricket field.

Imraan is among a handful of cricketers of Asian origin who are making their mark in South African cricket at last. Their most senior member is Goolam Bodi, 24, the chinaman bowler and aggressive batsman who was born in Hathuran, a small village in the Indian state of Gujarat, before his family moved to South Africa.

Bodi represented South Africa Under-19s in England in 1997, and played in 1998 Youth World Cup. His big break seemed to have come when, after impressing for KwaZulu-Natal, he was called up to replace injured Nicky Boje in one-day squad on South Africa’s West Indian tour early in 2001.

Sadly, before he could join the squad, he broke a finger on his bowling hand in a Lancashire League match. Also in that group was Hashim Amla, a top-order batsman of great promise who made his first-class debut for KwaZulu-Natal against England in 1999-2000. He toured New Zealand with South African Under-19s in 2000-01, and captained South Africa at last Under-19 World Cup in 2002.—PPI