London: Former Pakistan’s pacer Mohammad Amir will make a return to first-class cricket after signing a three-match deal to play for Gloucestershire in the County Championship.
“The County Championship is an amazing competition and I can’t wait to get going with Gloucestershire. I love playing in English conditions and I’m feeling really good, so I hope I can perform well for the team,” Amir said.
The 30-year-old left-arm pace bowler Amir has played in 36 Test matches for Pakistan and has 119 Test wickets to his name. The overseas signing will provide Glos with an experienced seam option as cover for the absent Naseem Shah, who will be unavailable for selection until the T20 Vitality Blast campaign.
Amir has linked up with the Gloucestershire squad in Lancashire and will be in-line to make his first-team debut against Surrey at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol, on April 28.
“I’m excited for the challenge and will try my best to help Gloucestershire win some matches,” he said.
Amir made his Test debut for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in 2009, at the age of 17, and claimed six wickets in the match. By the time he was 18 Amir had become the youngest bowler in history to take 50 Test wickets.
After soaring to international stardom as a teenager, Amir went on to enjoy a successful international career and made a combined 147 appearances in IT20, ODI and Test matches over an 11-year period.
Amir also has previous experience of playing in English cricket having enjoyed two spells at Essex as an overseas signing in 2017 and 2019. In 2017 he featured for Essex during their title-winning County Championship campaign and in the T20 Blast campaign, in which he took a combined 28 wickets across both competitions.
Steve Snell, Gloucestershire’s performance director, said, “We are delighted to have signed a bowler of Amir’s calibre. We will sadly be without Naseem for a few weeks due to injury and while we help him get back to full fitness, Amir will provide us with quality and international experience in our seam attack for what is a strong first-division competition.”
