County Championship 2022 | Mohammad Amir returns to County cricket, joins Gloucestershire

Pakistani seamer Mohammad Amir pleased his fans when he announced his return to county cricket after a gap of nearly 3 years. The former international has signed up for Gloucestershire on a short contract.

The 30-year-old signed a 3-match deal with the team for the upcoming LV= Insurance County Championship. The experienced bowler has been announced as a replacement for the injured Naseem Shah. 

Amir has already flown to London and joined the squad in Manchester. Amir shared his excitement ahead of his return and said, "The County Championship is an amazing competition, and I can't wait to get going with Gloucestershire. I love playing in English conditions and I'm feeling really good, so I hope I can perform well for the team."

"I'm excited for the challenge and will try my best to help Gloucestershire win some matches." he then added.

Gloucestershire has played 2 matches this season and failed to fetch a single victory as they drew their opening game and lost their latest one. Next up, they face Surrey on 28th April.

It can be confirmed via the news report on Gloucestershire's website that Amir is set to make his debut against Surrey. The left-arm pacer will further be available for the team's outing against Hampshire and Somerset before his contract burns out. 

When asked about the signing of Amir to the team Steve Snell, Gloucestershire's performance director, said: "We are delighted to have signed a bowler of Amir's calibre. We will sadly be without Naseem for a few weeks due to injury, and while we help him get back to full fitness, Amir will provide us with quality and international experience in our seam attack for what is a strong first-division competition.

"Amir fits the bill perfectly for what we need and we're confident he will be a great addition to the squad for those three matches. He has indicated his hunger and desire to make pivotal contributions during his time with us and we look forward to making him feel welcome in Bristol with Gloucestershire."

Amir who is infamously known for his controversial playing career picked up 200 international wickets in 97 matches across all formats. He debuted his county cricket with Surrey in 2017-to 2019. 

The pacer retired from all forms of cricket in 2020 shortly after his red ball retirement in 2019.