Haris Rauf to represent Yorkshire in 2022

The 28-year-old pace bowler will be the first player from Pakistan to benefit from the player exchange programme included in the club's partnership with Lahore Qalandars

Haris Rauf will represent Yorkshire during the 2022 county season.

The fast bowler is set to join the club as part of a new partnership with Pakistan Super League franchise Lahore Qalandars, which includes a player exchange programme between the two sides. Yorkshire allrounder Harry Brook was signed by the Qalandars in the 2021 PSL draft.

The details of his time with Yorkshire are yet to be confirmed.

The partnership, announced on December 21, will also allow academy players from both sides to train and play in different conditions, offer scholarships for aspiring players from Yorkshire to travel to Lahore (and vice versa), and allow Yorkshire to learn from the Qalandars’ player development program.

28-year-old Rauf is one of the those to have benefitted from the player development program offered by the 2020 PSL finalists after first attending a trial session in 2017.

Since then, the pace bowler has become a mainstay of the Qalandars XI, picking up 31 wickets in 27 appearances, and has also carved out a successful Big Bash career with Melbourne Stars. Rauf has taken 21 wickets at 15.95 in 13 appearances for the Australian side and is contracted to appear for the Stars in BBL11.  

^{Haris Rauf bowling for Melbourne Stars [Will Russell/Getty Images]}

Overall, Rauf has taken 128 wickets in 96 T20 appearances to date, including 41 in 34 caps for Pakistan. At the recent T20 World Cup, he was his country’s second-highest wicket-taker, with eight dismissals, and posted career-best T20I figures of 4 for 22 against New Zealand.

Rauf has also made eight ODI appearances for Pakistan, taking 14 wickets, and four first-class appearances for Northern in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

His stint with Yorkshire will represent his first stint in English domestic cricket but he has made eight international appearances in England, taking 12 wickets.

Commenting on signing Rauf, interim managing director of cricket, Darren Gough, said: "I am thrilled to welcome the exceptionally talented Haris Rauf to our club. I am also excited by the opportunity to learn from the inspirational players development program.

I have spoken in the past about my passion for developing accessible pathways to cricket – for many people from a background like mine, cricket isn’t seen as an option, with the associated costs and access to facilities creating real barriers to entry. This partnership is an opportunity to take the blueprint the Qalandars has developed to such a success and work with them to define how that can be used to provide access for potential players from across Yorkshire."

RELATED LINKS (open in external window in app)

Yorkshire announce partnership with Lahore Qalandars

County cricket ins and outs 2022: Signings, transfers, squad updates