Rana Naved set for early Derbyshire debut

By Andy Wilson

Pakistan fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan is standing by to make an earlier than expected debut for his new county, Derbyshire. That may come on Sunday (June 10) against his former county, Sussex, in their Clydesdale Bank 40 clash at Horsham – if Derbyshire can secure permission from the Pakistan Cricket Board in time.

The 34-year-old Twenty20 specialist flew in to the country this week to prepare for his spell with the Falcons in their Friends Life t20 campaign, which starts with a home game against Lancashire on June 14.

Because Martin Guptill has had to go back to New Zealand a week early after chipping a bone in his finger, that has allowed Derbyshire the option of bringing Rana in as cover in the CB40 on Sunday.

Australia batsman Usman Khawaja, who will stay through to the end of the season as the county’s other overseas signing, is not due to arrive until this weekend.

Having reached an agreement with Rana, all Derbyshire need is to secure an extension to the PCB's No Objection Certificate (NOC) and that is where they have encountered a slight hitch.

“The plan is for Rana to play against Sussex,” said head coach Karl Krikken. “He is here, so there’s no problem with that, but he’s waiting for one of the officials to get in touch with him and he seems to be out of the country. We’ve got a few days to sort it out and hopefully that will be long enough.”


Date: 08/06/2012 08:05:48 by Andy Wilson
In: Today | Sussex | Derbyshire |