Akhter excited to join strong Essex bowling unit

Pace bowler Zaman Akhter is excited by the challenge of testing himself against the County Championship's best following his winter move to Essex.

The 26-year-old had a trial with Essex in 2022 and played some games for their second XI but was then offered a contract by Division Two club Gloucestershire.

He spent three seasons at Bristol, taking 94 wickets in all formats of the game, but agreed a three-year deal with Division One side Essex in August.

"You look at the Essex bowlers and the experience in there - I'm only going to learn from them, see what works for them at Chelmsford and the Test grounds we're going to be playing at," he told BBC Essex.

"That challenge of stepping up to Division One is one I'm really looking forward to and I'm in good hands with Chris Silverwood being the coach, who has seen a lot.

"It will be a really good unit to be a part of and learn from because those guys do it year in, year out - they're always top of the wicket-taking charts."

He will join a seam attack led by Jamie Porter and Sam Cook, who have taken a combined total of 899 first-class wickets, backed up primarily by Shane Snater and another winter signing, Mitchell Killeen.

There will be no return to Chelmsford in 2026 for New Zealand all-rounder Doug Bracewell, though, after he recently announced his retirement.

Akhter says he hopes to offer "a bit of pace, a game-changing spell and a some handy runs with the bat".

He came through the South Asian Cricket Academy, a non-profit organisation set up to address the lack of representation of British South Asians in professional cricket.

Akhter did not make his first-class debut until he was 24, having experienced back problems as a younger bowler.

"I had stress fractures when I was 18 in my lower back and then had another back problem in that season I was trialling with Essex," he said.

"When you're not on the staff, you can't really speak to physios or anything. So I was getting external help, which was amazing and got me back on the pitch.

"I had to turn a few games down in the middle of the season to get myself right but those little setbacks when I was younger gave me a bit more time to understand my own game, figuring a few things out myself.

"You see now guys making Test debuts past the age of 30, so if you don't get signed at 18, it's not the end of the world."

Essex start the 2026 season with an away Championship game against Hampshire on 3 April.