For their 2023 Vitality Blast season, Nottinghamshire has recruited Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi. Afridi will be one of the club’s two T20 international players, along with Colin Munro.
The club’s head coach, Peter Moores, praised Afridi as a “box-office player” who may reenergize Nottinghamshire, the T20 champions in 2017 and 2020, after they failed to advance to the Blast’s knockout rounds for the first time since 2015.
We have a world-class player in Shaheen, which is really exciting, and a player who has a unique skill with the ball, which is important when we are seeking to recruit, according to Moores.
Shaheen adds star quality and a unique perspective to the group, and he has proven himself on big stages. He is fiercely passionate in the way he plays cricket, and for that reason, he’ll be hugely engaging for everyone to watch. We are building from a strong platform, with many very talented lads eager to play T20.
“This signing invigorates the club; he makes impacts in important games and is a box office player. We want to recover from last year’s season. We have two extremely special talents in addition to Munro, who ranks among the highest run scorers in the history of the sport, both of whom will be crucial to our efforts to win back the trophy.
Afridi, 22, just led Lahore Qalandars to their second consecutive PSL championship; he has previously played for Middlesex and Hampshire in county cricket; and last week, Welsh Fire signed him to play in the Hundred.
Afridi stated, “Notts play an aggressive kind of cricket, which suits me well. They’ve had fantastic success recently, and guys like Alex Hales, Colin Munro, and Joe Clarke are players I’ve squared up against recently and been impressed by.
“Having played at Trent Bridge, I am aware that it is a fast-scoring venue and that bowlers must get their line and lengths correct, but they also reap the benefits when they do so. The goal is certainly to influence games to make the team as successful as possible.
For me, moving is undoubtedly thrilling, and I’m looking forward to it.
