Nottinghamshire have moved quickly to shore-up their overseas ranks, adding Pakistan seamer Mohammad Ali to their Vitality Blast squad after Peter Siddle was barred from the competition. The 33-year-old will now arrive at Trent Bridge in time for Friday’s opener against Yorkshire, rather than in August as originally planned.
Ali had already signed a contract covering the One-Day Cup and County Championship. The revised deal means he will be in Nottingham for most of the summer, linking up again with assistant coach Paul Franks, who worked with him during a stint in Pakistan.
The right-armer, capped eight times by Pakistan, joins on the back of an excellent Pakistan Super League with Hyderabad Kingsmen. Twenty wickets in that campaign helped the new franchise reach the final and earned Ali a place in ESPNcricinfo’s team of the tournament. He hopes to carry that rhythm into English conditions.
“I am really pleased to get the opportunity to come to Trent Bridge earlier than expected, and I am really looking forward to the Vitality Blast,” Ali said. “I was already really excited about the chance to come and play in England, so when I was told there was a chance to come earlier, I said yes straight away.
“I have heard a lot about how good Trent Bridge is to play at, and I can’t wait to meet the team and play in front of the brilliant fans. I think we have a really good squad this year and I am excited to play with them and hopefully go really far in this competition.”
Notts were forced into a rethink when Siddle, their initial T20 signing, was deemed ineligible after featuring in the World Legends Pro T20 League in Goa – an event classified by the ECB as “disapproved cricket”. With the fixture list already published, the county wanted experience rather than a short-term stop-gap.
Head coach Peter Moores explained the logic. “It’s great news that we’ve been able to secure the services of Mohammad a bit earlier than planned. When it became clear last month that we’d have to find another overseas player for this year’s Vitality Blast, Mohammad was the obvious choice.
“With his recent performances in the PSL, I’m really excited by what he can bring to our group, and Paul Franks has always spoken highly about his ability as well as his character. He’ll add a lot of experience and quality to our group, which is what we want from our overseas players, as we look to hit our targets in the Blast this year.”
Ali will share the overseas slots with South Africa’s left-arm spinner George Linde. Nottinghamshire, two-time champions in the format, start their North Group campaign under the Trent Bridge lights on Friday.
