Gloucestershire bolster overseas ranks with addition of Pakistan's Naseem Shah for 2022 season

Marcus Harris and Zafar Gohar are already bound for Bristol ahead of what should be an exciting campaign

Naseem Shah's prodigious pace will be on show at Gloucestershire during the 2022 English domestic season after a deal for the Pakistan seamer to join for the first part of the new campaign was agreed.

The 18-year-old has played nine Tests for his country, taking 20 wickets, and is putting together a fine first-class record.

Twenty-two red-ball matches have produced 70 scalps at 26.41 apiece.

Shah joins a strong overseas contingent at Bristol including Australia's Marcus Harris and fellow-countryman Zafar Gohar.

He will be available to play all formats during the first half of next season - including in Division One of the County Championship - up to and including the end of the T20 Blast group stage.

Head coach Dale Benkenstein can be hopeful of having the youngster around for much of that period. The Cricketer understands the season will start with seven rounds of the Championship before the Blast begins in late May.

It then runs throughout June before the quarter-finals in early July. Finals Day at Edgbaston is scheduled for July 16.

Pakistan are due to host West Indies in a three-match ODI series in June, postponed from last December after an outbreak of Covid-19 cases in the tourists' squad.

^{Shah has played nine Tests since his debut at The Gabba (Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)}

But Shah, who is yet to play a white-ball match for his country, is not guaranteed to be selected.

It is more likely his services will be required for the Sri Lanka Tests starting in July. His arrival in the UK might also be delayed by his involvement in the Australia Test series in March.

More than two years removed from his grand arrival on the international scene, it is easy to forget Shah remains a flourishing teenager still finding his way in the game.

Even if his career happens to plateau in the coming years - and there is no suggestion of that just yet - he already has several notable landmarks to his name.

His second Test appearance against Sri Lanka was marked with a maiden five-wicket haul, becoming the second youngster bowler to complete the feat. And just three months later in February 2020 against Bangladesh, he became the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick.

Playing just a single Test last year, 2021 represented a setback. He was wicketless in Christchurch against New Zealand, finishing with match figures of 0 for 141 as Pakistan slipped to an innings defeat.

^{Whatever follows, Shah will always have Bangladesh (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)}

Shah was then banished from the Pakistan Super League for breaching Covid protocols, which involved submitting an out-of-date Covid test result. Quetta Gladiators have retained Shah ahead of PSL 7 and will welcome back him later this month.

In 32 domestic T20s, he's taken 25 wickets with an economy rate of 8.13. The men's T20 Player Index currently ranks him at No.581. Though while others were staking a claim for involvement in the T20 World Cup, Shah endured an underwhelming National T20 Cup campaign, taking nine wickets in as many games for Southern Punjab.

That said, it is worth again considering his age and stage of his career, with patience and understanding required as he attempts to find his feet in the high-pressure cauldron of pro cricket.

He remains a rare commodity; a 90mph bowler and has a number of glowing references behind him, including from Waqar Younis. The rigorousness of the English domestic game will undoubtedly teach him plenty.

"I’m extremely happy to be joining Gloucestershire and can’t wait to experience playing in English cricket for the first time," he said. "I’m excited for what we can achieve as a team next season and will use all my skills to help Gloucestershire challenge for silverware across all formats."

Chief executive Will Brown added: "What a way to start 2022; Naseem is an incredibly exciting player to watch and we can’t wait for fans to get the first glimpse of him in action in Bristol at the start of the season.

"It’s a real coup for the club to secure Naseem and we have every confidence that our talented group of players will be able to compete with the very best in Division One of the County Championship."