County news - Glamorgan sign Fazalhaq Farooqi for T20 Blast

Glamorgan signed Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi for the T20 Blast to boost their pace bowling stocks.

Farooqi was the joint-highest wicket-taker at the 2024 T20 World Cup and previously played for Nottinghamshire and Manchester Originals in English cricket.

“Fazalhaq comes with a growing reputation as one of the leading bowlers in T20 cricket,” said Mark Wallace, Glamorgan’s director of cricket.

“He will provide us with a high-quality wicket threat with the new ball and some excellent bowling skills at the back of the innings. We look forward to welcoming our first Afghan overseas player to the Club.”

Glamorgan have not reached the knock-out stages of the Blast since 2017, but have brought in some proven T20 talent over the winter, with Sean Dickson at Somerset and Australian seamer Nathan McAndrew will also show up as an overseas player.

The club announced earlier this week that New South Wales and Australia A seamer Ryan Hadley will play the first six rounds of County Championship games for them as they look to fill the gap James Harris’ retirement.

“We have watched Ryan’s progress on the Australian domestic circuit and feel that his style of bowling will add an extra skill set to our attack at the start of the season,” Wallace said.

“He is coming off a good domestic season in Australia which saw him break into the Australian A team and we look forward to welcoming him to Sophia Gardens in the coming days.”

Glamorgan will play in Division One of the Championship for the first time since 2005 this summer, following a late rise to promotion last year.