A bright and young fast bowling prospect, Michael Cohen is a South African-born professional cricketer who plays for Derbyshire domestically. Cohen’s meteoric rise has seen him go from playing for the Western Province U17 ‘B’ side to taking a five-for for the Cape Cobras in just over a year.

Cohen was brought into the squad as an injury replacement for Matthew Strauss, after putting in good performances for the Western Province Cricket Club’s first team. Eyebrows were raised, but he soon silenced his critics by turning in with figures of 2-11 from seven overs in his first match, following with 3-20 in seven overs in his second and 0-28 in nine overs of his final game for Western Province in the 2015-16 tournament.

Cohen’s hard work paid off as he was signed by Derbyshire on a two-year deal in October 2019. Cohen joined the county after taking 50 wickets at 26.12 across his 15 first-class appearances for Western Province and Cape Cobras, including a hat-trick of Gauteng batsmen at the Wanderers. 

Having recently featured for the senior team of Derbyshire on April 15, 2021, Cohen was out on a duck and went wicketless in both innings. At just 22 years of age, Cohen is touted as the future star.

(As of May 2021)