Pat Brown

But, as he says, he has the best reason for not being there, after being selected for the England Cricket squad for the Twenty20 for the five-match series in New Zealand, which started on Friday 1 November.

For the past three years, Pat has combined elite sport with his academic studies, and his impressive form in recent seasons has now led to his first call up to the national side.

“I think I’ve probably got as good an excuse as anyone for not being at graduation,” said the 21-year-old.  “It’s definitely a weight off my shoulders to have that degree.  It’s obviously nice knowing that whatever happens in cricket I’ve got a back-up plan already in place.  I’d love to use my degree in the future after cricket, to go into business and explore that walk of life.”

Pat was awarded a scholarship within the University’s partnership with Worcestershire Cricket Club, which allowed him to combine playing for the County side, Worcestershire Rapids, with a degree.

Reflecting on his time at Worcester, Pat praised the support he had received to ensure he could manage his workload.

He added: “I loved my time at the University of Worcester.  I think it was really good for me in terms of furthering my learning, which is important because especially in professional sport you never know how things can go down the line.  It progressed me as a person, but it’s also really helped me develop as a cricketer, having the opportunity to essentially be a full-time cricketer without having that professional contract. I learnt things about myself I probably wouldn’t have learnt or would have taken me longer to learn.  If you’re in my situation and you get behind it’s amplified, so it just made me have to be really organised and know what I was doing all the time.”

Pat met his fellow England players for the first time at the airport when they flew out and has been in training in New Zealand over the past two weeks in preparation for the Series.  He said receiving kit with his name on the back had brought it home to him what he had achieved.

“It’s obviously a lovely feeling and something I’ve worked very hard for and something that I’m not going to give up easily.  I feel very privileged,” he added.