Azeem Rafiq has finished as Yorkshire's top wicket-taker in the group stages of the Royal London One Day Cup while he is also the only Post Office owner in the Headingley dressing room.
The 26-year-old has begun a business career alongside his cricketing by purchasing Lundwood Post Office on Pontefract Road and combining it with a Best One convenience store, which opened earlier this month.
While spending almost two years out of the professional game until June 2016, Azeem was made very aware of the realities of life after sport so wanted a back-up plan as well as something to take his mind off his cricket.
He believes owning the business has improved his form on the pitch, as he took 15 wickets in the 50-over group stage and also made his best ever score in that format with 52 not out on Tuesday in the win over Leicestershire.
That form has earned him a contract extension until the end of next year. Azeem told the Chronicle: "In my time out of the game I was trying different things and owning my own business is something I have always wanted to do. My dad Muhammad heard about this opportunity through one of his friends and I thought it was too good to miss out on and it's my first steps into the business world.
"I put together a business plan, went through a series of interviews, won the contract and renovated it. A lot of people had an interest in it because it's a great business opportunity. A Post Office is massively at the heart of the community, especially in Lundwood. A lot of people's everyday lives revolve around it. A lot of people are very happy that it has been done up.
"My dad is overseeing a lot of it at the moment while the cricket season is on, but I work in the shop when I can. I have been recognised a few times. They say 'do you play cricket? What are you doing working in the Post Office?' My sisters work there sometimes and we have six staff from the Lundwood area because we wanted to put something back into the community."
The Yorkshire players are encouraged by the Professional Cricketers' Association to pursue other interests and plan for a second career. Azeem said: "It's important for me in terms of preparing for life outside cricket. Hopefully this is just a start. I have always wanted to own a restaurant in the future. But this will give me the understanding of running a business on a smaller scale.
"Life after cricket is a hell of a long time so it is really important to have a back-up plan. That hit home to me when I was out of the game. Some of my team-mates have seen what I have done and they are thinking about doing similar things.
"It's also something to take my mind off cricket. I have always found that, when I have got other things going on, that is when I play my best cricket. When it's just cricket, cricket, cricket I overthink it. It is definitely helping my game."
Rafiq has been an ever-present in Yorkshire's One Day Cup side who have qualified for next month's quarter-finals under the captaincy of his former Barnsley CC team-mate Gary Ballance who already has 1,000 runs this season. The spinner recorded impressive figures of three for 35 off his ten overs on Sunday but the Tykes lost at Edgbaston to Warwickshire, who chased 284 with five wickets and 2.3 overs remaining. On Tuesday, he smashed 52 not out off 30 balls with three sixes and three fours against Leicestershire at Headingley. He then took two wickets in three balls as the visitors were bowled out for 238 chasing Yorkshire's 258.
Azeem, who is hoping to earn an England call-up in the future, said: "It's nice to take some wickets and score a few runs. The new contract is great too.
"I have been given a lot of responsibility and Gary has used me in all the toughest situations. The opposition have looked at our bowling attack and seen four England bowlers in David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Tim Bresnan so they have targeted me which has worked massively in my favour and allowed me to get wickets.
"The game at Warwickshire was the best I have bowled since I have been back at the club. "I think I am coming back to my best form from around 2012 and I can go past that. I have put a lot of work in and built up a lot of belief in myself.
"Things are going in the right direction. When you have gone through what I've gone through, you appreciate the good times a lot more. I am chuffed to bits and always pinching myself. I can't get out of bed and up to Headingley quick enough in the morning.
"A year ago I was playing league cricket at Sheffield United and had no connection to Yorkshire at all but a few weeks later I got a call and the dream started to become a little bit of a reality again. I just want to keep enjoying every day and take it further."
Yorkshire now return to the County Championship Division One for the Roses match against Lancashire at Old Trafford which is due to start today and last until Monday. The Tykes have won one, lost one and drawn one of their three four-day matches so far as they look to win the title for the third time in four years.
Rafiq, who is set to play in the match, said: "It's the one I am really looking forward to. Old Trafford is a place where I have a lot of good memories. I got man of the match there in a Twenty20 a few years ago and I got my first team cap there last season."
