Daily Times

LAHORE: English county Nottinghamshire has signed Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for their 2023 Vitality Blast campaign. Afridi will join Colin Munro as one of the club’s two T20 overseas players. Last season, Nottinghamshire missed out on qualification for the knockout stages of the Blast for the first time since 2015, and head coach, Peter Moores, hailed Afridi as a “box-office player” who could help reinvigorate the club, T20 champions in 2017 and 2020. “In Shaheen, we’ve got a world class player – which is really exciting – and a player with a point of difference with the ball, which is crucial when we are looking to recruit,” Moores said. “We are building from a strong platform, with a lot of very talented lads hungry to play T20, and Shaheen adds star quality and a different angle to that group. He has proven himself on big stages; he is fiercely passionate in the way he plays his cricket, and he’ll be hugely engaging for everyone to watch for that reason. We want to bounce back from last year’s campaign, and this signing invigorates the club; he makes impacts in big games, and is a box office player. Alongside Munro, who is one of the top run-scorers in the history of the format, we’ve got two very unique talents, both of whom will play a big role for us as we look to bring back silverware.”

Afridi, 22, recently captained Lahore Qalandars to the second of back-to-back PSL titles. He has had previous spells in county cricket with Middlesex and Hampshire, and was signed last week by Welsh Fire to appear in the Hundred. “Notts play an aggressive brand of cricket, which suits me well,” Afridi said. “They’ve had great success in recent years and the likes of Alex Hales, Colin Munro and Joe Clarke are players I have faced up against in recent years and been impressed by. “The goal is obviously to influence games to make the team as successful as possible. Having played at Trent Bridge, I know it is a fast-scoring ground and as a bowler you need to get your line and lengths right, but you also get the rewards when you do that. “It’s definitely an exciting move for me, and one I’m looking forward to.”