Gloucestershire sign Afghanistan spinner Qais Ahmad

The 19-year-old will be available for all of the county’s T20 Blast matches, while he will also be part of the squad for the final six games of the club’s County Championship campaign

Gloucestershire have signed Afghanistan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad as an overseas for part of the 2020 season.

The 19-year-old will be available for all of the county’s T20 Blast matches, while he will also be part of the squad for the final six games of the club’s campaign in Division One of the County Championship.

Ahmad, who has also been picked up by Welsh Fire – the team affiliated with Gloucestershire – in the fourth round of the inaugural draft for The Hundred, has represented more teams in professional cricket during the last 12 months than any other player.

He has turned out for eight different sides in that time, including Balkh Legends, Rajshahi Kings, Afghanistan, Afghanistan A, Afghanistan Emerging, Hobart Hurricanes, Guyana Amazon Warriors and Speen Ghar Region.

The young spinner said of his move: “I am extremely happy to have signed for Gloucestershire for the T20 Blast and then the County Championship. It is a great honour for me to join Gloucestershire after they had such a successful 2019.

“Having played T20 cricket around the world I have always wanted to play first class cricket in England to develop my red ball skills. I am looking forward to working with Richard Dawson.”

As part of his rise in recent times, he was drafted into Hobart’s Big Bash plans late on last season, following an injury to Tymal Mills. He has since been re-signed by the Australian franchise for the entirety of the forthcoming campaign.

He made his Test debut in September as Afghanistan pulled off a landmark win in Bangladesh, taking his first wicket in the form of Bangladesh off-spinner Mehidy Hasan.

Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson added: “I’m delighted that Qais has agreed to join us for next season as the club enters its first season in Division One since 2004. We had a very strong season in 2019 and Qais will help take us to the next level in both the long and short formats with his game-changing skills.

“He’s one of the most exciting young spinners in the world and I’m looking forward to seeing him add a new dimension to our T20 and County Championship squads.”