article: England's dressing-room brains trust will take on an extra dimension if Zafar Ansari, the Surrey spin-bowling all-rounder, makes his international debut against Ireland in Malahide on May 8. The 23-year-old Ansari, who celebrated his call-up with four Essex wickets at The Kia Oval, graduated from Cambridge two years ago with a double first in politics and sociology. He is halfway through a 40,000-word masters on the 1960s civil rights movement in the American south, and plays the piano to a high level. It's fair to say he would be England's most academically gifted cricketer since Ed Smith – another Cambridge double first – won three Test caps in 2003. Surrey's Zafar Ansarihas been called up to England's ODI squad for the clash against Ireland . The left-handed batsman and left-arm spinner also has an eye on a career in academia one day . 'I think my Surrey team-mates enjoy having someone to talk to about things they don't think about or talk about necessarily,' Ansari told Sportsmail. 'I try to use the studies to avoid taking cricket too seriously. I think cricket is a sport, and isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. My studies and cricket are tools for each other, and I do try to see them in those instrumental ways.' Ansari, part of a young England squad picked with the 2019 World Cup in mind, opens in four-day cricket for his county, but bats in the middle order in limited-overs matches, bowls accurate left-arm spin and is an athletic fielder. England almost chose him for the Test tour of the Caribbean. James Taylor will captain England against Ireland . 'Playing in Dublin would be nerve-wracking because of the exposure,' he said. 'But when it comes to one-day cricket, I feel the gap between international and county cricket maybe isn't as big as between Test cricket and the second division.' Ansari's rise was accelerated by his five-wicket haul for Cambridge MCCU against Surrey back in 2011, when he removed Kevin Pietersen for 30 and helped the students to a 10-wicket win. Pietersen, now a county team-mate, was going through a difficult patch against left-arm spinners, but Ansari insists the pair have not spoken about the dismissal. 'It's never come up,' he said. 'I don't know if it was a touchy issue for him at the time, but it was a touchy issue in general. Anyone could have got him out – it just happened to be me.' Ansari spent three weeks in Sri Lanka over the winter with England Performance Programme, where he talked about the art of left-handed batting with Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance, and life as a spin bowler with Stephen Parry, Adil Rashid and Adam Riley. He is juggling his time between playing for Surrey and writing up his dissertation at London's Royal Holloway. He doesn't rule out a PhD or a career in academia. If so, he would follow the path of his father, Khizar, who hails from Lahore in Pakistan, settled in England in his teens because his own father was an engineer in the British Army, and was awarded an OBE 13 years ago for his work on race relations. Zafar's English mother is a historian. Between now and May 8, the dissertation may have to wait its turn. 'I'd love to give it a go with England,' he said. 'Things can happen quickly. A couple of good performances and it starts to snowball.' Lewis Gregory . A promising seam bowler who can bat a bit, the 22-year-old Gregory emerged through the ranks of Devon cricket before joining Somerset. Took 43 Championship wickets last season at an average of 26. Has also captained England Under 19s. David Willey . Northamptonshire's seam-bowling all-rounder was man of the match in the final of the 2013 domestic Twenty20 tournament. Son of former England all-rounder Peter, he celebrated his call-up with a typically hard-hitting fifty against Leicestershire. He's a left-armer too, which is all the rage after the World Cup. His county captain Alex Wakely reckons he's 'the Northants Botham'. Sam Billings . An explosive keeper-batsman at Kent, the 23-year-old Billings thrashed 458 runs in last season's Royal London One-Day Cup at an average of 114 and a strike-rate of 154. Made England's provisional 30-man World Cup squad when Craig Kieswetter withdrew because of an eye injury.
highlights: England have called up Zafar Ansari to their squad for ODI against Ireland .
  Surrey all-rounder is a top-order batsman and left-arm spinner .
  But he is also a gifted academic, with a double first from Cambridge .
  Ansari could be England's most academically gifted player since Ed Smith .
prediction: England 
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   Zafar Ansari, the Surrey spin 
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