Arul Suppiah

Suppiah was born in Malaysia and became the youngest player to represent his home country at the age of 15.

He was also named Malaysia’s most promising sportsman in 2000 and has appeared for England at Under-14, 15, 17 and 18 level.

He featured for the Somerset Board XI and Devon in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy in 2003, having made his first-class debut for Somerset the previous year against West Indies A.

He also played against Sri Lanka A in 2004 and broke through into Somerset’s first team in 2005 as the club put faith in their promising group of youngsters.

Suppiah appeared in seven county championship games, scoring 419 runs including a superb 123 against Derbyshire. That was his maiden first-class century and he achieved it on the same day as team-mate Wes Durston.

He also made six appearances in the Twenty20 Cup as Somerset went on to win the competition and he was rewarded with a new contract keeping him with the county until 2008. He spent the winter of 2005/6 playing in Perth in Australia.

He played in just three matches for his county in 2007, and did not have much of a chance to make an impression.

He endured another difficult season in 2008, but did open the batting in the LV County Championship towards the end of the season.

Suppiah's long-term hopes were hit when he had his application for permanent UK residency turned down, and he was forced to return to Malaysia.

But in February 2009, he was granted a work permit for the duration of his current county contract and was able to take his place in the Somerset squad until October 2010.