Ahmed must face a few stumpers Looking up: Fawad Ahmed has taken another big step towards joining the Ashes tour. Four Australians famously came unstuck with their homework in India this year, and now some last-minute studying is the only thing standing between Fawad Ahmed and a Test breakthrough. The 31-year-old leg-spinner's remarkable path towards representing his adopted country became clearer on Thursday when amendments to the Citizenship Act got the green light in Canberra by passing through the Senate. There are only 20 days to go until the first Test at Trent Bridge and although the Pakistan-born asylum seeker is cutting it fine, the successful clearance of Parliament's upper house is a significant turn in his direction. Like all would-be citizens, he will have to complete a test, answering correctly 15 of the 20 questions drawn at random from a pool. Despite what was once thought, there is no question about Don Bradman in the quiz, although there is a passage on the country's greatest cricketer in the non-testable section of the test booklet handed to applicants. From there, Ahmed will have to partake in a citizenship ceremony, which can be held in Britain, where he has been touring with the Australia A side. "This is pleasing news for Cricket Australia and a big step forward in a process which will help enable Fawad Ahmed become an Australian citizen," a Cricket Australia spokesman said. Pending royal assent by the Governor-General, the bill will become law and Ahmed will be considered for Australian citizenship, subject to the normal tests and assessments that any citizenship applicant would go through. Ahmed's likely addition to the Ashes touring party would complete a stunning journey. It is less than 12 months since Fairfax Media revealed his story. Hailing from the northern Pakistan province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where he was persecuted by religious extremists before leaving the country in 2010, Ahmed was this time last year preparing for another season with Melbourne University and working in a warehouse. On Wednesday, he was named in an Australia A squad to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe starting in July, a visit that clashes with much of the Ashes tour. However, he will have a chance to make a final impression on selectors when the A team faces Gloucestershire at Bristol in a match starting on Friday. National selector John Inverarity said on Wednesday that Ahmed and young West Australian spinner Ashton Agar were in contention to be added to the Ashes squad if the tourists needed a boost to their spin-bowling stocks before the series, starting at Trent Bridge on July 10. Ahmed bowled only 17 overs, claiming one wicket, during the previous Australia A match against Ireland in Belfast, however, that game was played in damp conditions that did not assist him. "He will be considered for selection - no more than that," Inverarity said in a BBC interview. If we select him for the Ashes team, the amount of pressure on him is going to be extraordinary. He's shown signs of great maturity.