Gloucestershire sign trio on short-term loans

None of the three have yet featured this season in the County Championship

Gloucestershire have signed seamers Brad Wheal and Zak Chappell, as well as Warwickshire allrounder Jacob Bethell, on short-term loan deals to ease an injury crisis ahead of their four-day clash with Somerset.

Wheal, who has agreed a minimum two-week loan, is yet to feature so far this season in the LV= Insurance County Championship but has played twice in red-ball matches for Hampshire's second team, picking up a five-wicket haul against Durham in April.

He who holds a British passport, having been born in Durban and has history with Dale Benkenstein, Gloucestershire's head coach. It was Benkenstein, during his time in the same role at Hampshire, who encouraged Wheal to move to England, having spotted him in action for Natal Under-19.

Since then, the 25-year-old has developed into an international cricketer with Scotland, representing the country at last year's T20 World Cup. He also impressed during The Hundred, where he turned out for London Spirit.

Chappell, acquired on a monthlong arrangement, has been similarly short of first-team game-time this season at Nottinghamshire. Like Wheal, who has had to wait for his chance behind Mohammad Abbas, Keith Barker and Kyle Abbott, Chappell has had Dane Paterson, Luke Fletcher, Stuart Broad and James Pattinson to contend with.

^{Wheal featured at the T20 World Cup for Scotland (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images)}

Gloucestershire's seam-bowling stocks have been tested in the first five rounds of the summer, having not yet enjoyed the calm of a bye-week; new captain Graeme van Buuren has called upon 10 different seamers so far, ranging from Pakistan overseas players Mohammad Amir and Naseem Shah to winter signing Ajeet Singh Dale and academy graduate Dom Goodman.

They have been impacted by injuries, however; Naseem hasn't played since his debut, while Ben Charlesworth – an opening batter and medium-pace option – is also out. Amir has a tight hamstring and therefore misses out on this week's County Championship clash with Somerset, with Zafar Gohar, the Pakistani left-arm spinner, recalled in his place.

Ryan Higgins is the club's leading wicket-taker with 14 in five games, but Singh Dale is the only other Gloucestershire seamer into double figures. David Payne has only played once following a bout of Covid, while former Yorkshire pair Josh Shaw and Jared Warner have both been expensive, leaking runs at more than four per over.

A fortnight ago, Bethell made a hundred for Warwickshire's second team against Gloucestershire's second string. The 18-year-old is highly regarded and played a key role in England Under-19s' run to the World Cup final earlier this year. He was subsequently signed up by Welsh Fire for the upcoming edition of The Hundred. His loan deal with Gloucestershire is only for the game against Somerset.