Naseem Shah not bothered by cold greeting: "Coming from 38 degrees to -1, I have enjoyed that a lot"

The 19-year-old arrived at Gloucestershire after an impressive Test series against Australia, during which he took six wickets at 28 across two Tests

Pakistani quick Naseem Shah is quickly settling into life at Gloucestershire.

The 19-year-old arrived at the club after an impressive Test series against Australia, during which he took six wickets at 28 across two appearances.

Naseem will be available for the first half of the LV= Insurance County Championship and the group stage of the T20 Blast, though his time may be cut short if he is picked for Pakistan's ODI series against the West Indies in June.

"First of all I am very excited, when I landed here in Bristol,” Shah told the club's official website. "It's a beautiful city and a beautiful environment. I am very excited to play for this club and very much looking forward to play for them.

"This is my first time of playing in county cricket, my senior players talk highly about the county cricket. I’m looking forward and hope that I bowl well here."

Naseem will link up with his former international teammate Zafar Gohar at Gloucestershire and joins Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan as Pakistani internationals likely to impress in this year’s Championship.

He said: "Before I came here, Zafar [Gohar] talked to me about the guys and the team. So, I met all the guys and everyone was so nice and enjoyed a lot here. And just coming from 38 degrees to -1, I have enjoyed that a lot."

Despite his recent form, the seamer struggled when he last played in England, taking three wickets at 70 across three Tests.

Gloucestershire seem confident there is more to come from Naseem, though.

Steve Snell, the club's performance director, said in January: "Naseem Shah is a fantastic talent and we're thrilled that he's decided to come and join us for next season.

"Naseem will bring further depth to our pace bowling department and will provide exciting competition for places in our seam bowling ranks.

"I have heard fantastic things about Naseem’s attitude and his willingness to stand up in the tough moments in games. I’ve got no doubt that Naseem, with the quality he has, will give us a great chance of achieving success.”

Gloucestershire are currently playing a warm-up match against Exeter UCCE ahead of their opening Division One game on Thursday.

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