Azhar signs with Somerset

LONDON: Azhar Ali, Pakistan’s Test opener, will make his first appearance in the County Championship later this summer after signing a seven-match deal with Somerset that will take him through to the end of the season.

Azhar, who had been in Somerset’s sights since the end of Pakistan’s Test tour in May and June, has been signed as a replacement for the Australian Matt Renshaw, who made three centuries at 51.30 in the opening rounds of the Championship before breaking a finger against Surrey at Guildford last month.

Renshaw had himself been signed as a replacement for his fellow Australian opener, Cameron Bancroft, who was withdrawn from availability in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town in March.

Azhar himself endured a lean time during Pakistan’s three Tests against Ireland and England earlier this season, making 73 runs in six innings with a solitary fifty during Pakistan’s memorable victory at Lord’s.

However, he had been strongly encouraged to seek out a county deal by the Pakistan coach, Mickey Arthur, who recognises the need for his senior players to get enough game-time in the off-season, ahead of their home series against Australia and New Zealand in October and November.