Somerset swoop for Pakistan off-spinner
Somerset have signed Pakistan off-spinner Sajid Khan as they look to avoid relegation to Division Two in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
The 28-year-old has joined the club for the final four Championship matches of the season, and made his debut in this week’s local derby against Gloucestershire.
The right-hander has featured in seven Tests for Pakistan, claiming 22 wickets, with a best of 8-42.
He has played in a total of 49 first class matches, taking 190 wickets at an average of 26.95. He has claimed five wickets in a match on 11 occasions and ten wickets twice.
After signing, Khan said: “I know that in recent years Babar Azam and Azhar Ali have enjoyed their time at Somerset, and I am looking forward to playing alongside Imam Ul-haq again. I hope that I can contribute to Somerset winning the last four County Championship games of the season.”
Somerset director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said: “With Jack Leach unavailable due to his England commitments for at least two rounds of Championship cricket, we felt that it was important to recruit an international quality spinner for the County Championship run-in.
“After detailed consideration of all the options available to us, we felt that Sajid Khan was the standout individual. He has proved his quality at the very highest level, and he is hungry to test himself in English conditions over the next few weeks.
“He is a player with an outstanding attitude, and he is well aware of exactly what County Championship cricket means to this club and its members and supporters.”
Alongside Khan, it has been announced that Tom Banton has signed a new contract to keep him at Somerset until at least the end of the 2024 season.
The former King’s College pupil made his Somerset debut in July 2017 in a T20 match against Middlesex at Uxbridge and went on to sign his first professional contract after graduating from the Somerset Academy at the end of that year.
His List A and first class debuts came the following year. In total, Banton has played 90 matches for the county, scoring 2,945 runs and is one of the most sought-after global white-ball players, having also featured regularly in the IPL, BBL and PSL.
The batter/wicket-keeper is a former England Under-19 captain and his impressive limited overs performances saw him rewarded with a full International T20 debut against New Zealand at Nelson in November 2019. To date, he has represented his country in 14 IT20S, scoring 327 runs at a strike rate of 147.96.
His ODI debut came in February 2020 at Cape Town, and he has played a further five matches in the format for his country.
After committing his future, Banton said: “It’s exciting. I love the club, I’ve got a lot of really good friends here and there’s no other place I’d rather be.
“We’ve got a lot of good young players coming through and that provides good competition for places. It keeps you on your toes and I feel that the club is in a good position to be challenging on all fronts over the next few years.
“We’ve come close to winning the Blast in recent seasons and it’s a dream of mine to win the County Championship with Somerset.
“I remember lifting the Royal London Cup at Lord’s and singing Blackbird in front of the Somerset fans and you could tell how much it meant to everyone. The following that we have is awesome.”
On the field, Somerset entered yesterday’s third day against Gloucestershire trailing by 134 runs. Ul-haq scored 90 on debut after Somerset dismissed their rivals for 343 after Gloucestershire began on 320-6 on Tuesday. Somerset, though, struggled to 87-4 before Imam helped spare his side as they try to avoid the drop. They gained a precious point as Somerset precariously ended day two on 209-8.
Ul-haq said: “The wicket was doing a bit, but it helps when you have played a lot of Test matches and international and ODI cricket.
“I knew what are my good scoring areas, so I was just waiting for those balls.
“It was a good discipline.
“I was very impressed with James Rew and I was talking in the lunch and tea intervals with him about the way he was batting.
“Four-day cricket demands a lot of determination and it can change very quickly. If our bowlers bowl in the right areas anything can happen.”