‘Will be incredibly valuable’ - Shan Masood can buck Yorkshire CCC’s negative overseas signings trend

The club has had little success in that area lately; good intentions have rarely been matched by value for money.

But Masood has had a fine season with Derbyshire – albeit in Division Two of the County Championship – and should be available more often than not. He is not currently in the Pakistan Test team although hopes to resurrect his international career.

A left-handed opener, Masood, 32, made the last of his 25 Test appearances in January last year and averages 29.31 at Test level. He has made five one-day international appearances (all in 2019), averaging 22.20 in ODI cricket. Masood averages 38.36 in first-class competition, 56.50 in the one-day game, and 27.26 in T20 fixtures.

Darren Gough, the Yorkshire interim managing director of cricket, said: “Shan is a world-class batter who will contribute in all formats for us.

“He’s a great senior player and we’ve seen from his performances with Derbyshire this year that he has what it takes to score a lot of runs in county cricket.

“His experiences from playing around the world, including international cricket with Pakistan, will be incredibly valuable to the squad we are building. We are absolutely delighted that he has opted to join us.”

Overseas recruitment has been a problem for Yorkshire dating back over several years. This season, they have had six different overseas players, none of whom have pulled up trees; some have not even rustled branches.

Shannon Gabriel, the West Indies fast bowler, took combined figures of 45.4-4-222-5 in two County Championship games in which he sent down 28 no-balls.

Shadab Khan, the Pakistan all-rounder, managed nine wickets in 12 T20 appearances and 134 runs in 11 innings. Finn Allen, the New Zealand batsman, contributed 190 runs in nine T20 innings at an average of 21.11, with a highest score of 48.

Dimuth Karunaratne, the Sri Lanka captain, scored 89 runs in four Championship innings. Haris Rauf, the Pakistan fast bowler, took 15 wickets in four Championship games at 31.53, along with four wickets in as many T20 matches.

And Dominic Drakes, another West Indies fast bowler, took 10 wickets in five T20 games but made no impact on his solitary Championship appearance.

Born in Kuwait, Masood will hope to be somewhat more consistent than those short-term recruits. He has scored 1,779 runs in all cricket for Derbyshire this year and was the first man in England to pass 1,000 first-class runs.

“I’m delighted to have signed for Yorkshire,” he said in a statement. “The pedigree and the history of Yorkshire CCC is massive and to play at Headingley week-in, week-out is a dream.

“To follow in the footsteps of the three Pakistan captains (Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Sarfaraz Ahmed) that have represented Yorkshire is really exciting. I’m looking forward to sharing a dressing room with some really talented players, including the current England players like Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Adil Rashid, Dawid Malan and Harry Brook.”

Masood went on: “I’m also looking forward to working with (Yorkshire head coach) Ottis Gibson again, having worked closely with him in the PSL (Pakistan Super League) this year. I maintain a strong desire to play cricket at the highest level and I feel this project at Yorkshire provides me with the ideal opportunity to take that step.

“I share the ambition of the club to win trophies whilst playing an exciting brand of cricket.”

Yorkshire have also signed Ben Mike, the 23-year-old Leicestershire all-rounder, who has put pen to paper on a three-year deal. With the club having recently recruited Matt Milnes, the Kent seamer, and with several youngsters coming through, Gough is bullish about Yorkshire’s prospects.

“With Ben, Matt and Shan set to join us ahead of next season, and young players Ben Cliff and Fin Bean signing their first senior contracts, we believe we are building a group of players that are capable of competing for silverware across all formats,” he said.

“Ben adds another exciting dimension to our squad alongside Matt Milnes and the current crop of talented fast bowlers.

“He is a very talented young cricketer whose signature was in demand around the counties, so it’s brilliant that he will be in our ranks next year. He’s made some match-winning contributions throughout his career with Leicestershire, particularly in white-ball cricket, and we are excited to see his game develop even more with us at Yorkshire.”

Yorkshire will guarantee their place in the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup if they beat Hampshire in Scarborough today in their final group game.