Surrey have signed Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan in time for their key County Championship match with Somerset.
The 37-year-old all-rounder – widely seen as one of his country’s greatest-ever players – comes in for the top-of-the-table clash at Taunton starting on Monday.
Surrey have eight players unavailable because of England commitments, with Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith, Dan Lawrence and Gus Atkinson all on Test duty.
Surrey will also face Somerset in the T20 Blast semi-finals at Edgbaston on Saturday.
“When the opportunity to bring a player of the quality of Shakib to the club came along it was an easy decision to make,” said Surrey director of cricket Alec Stewart.
“We’ve been aware for a period of time that this fixture was likely to be one where we would have a significant number of players away on England duty and, in particular, missing two of our spinning all-rounders.
“Shakib brings a wealth of experience and outstanding skill with bat and ball and we look forward to seeing what he can do for Surrey.”
Shakib has scored more than 4,500 runs in Test cricket at an average of 38 and taken just under 250 wickets.
He has over 14,000 runs and 700 wickets in international cricket and is Bangladesh’s leading wicket-taker of all-time in Test, ODI and Twenty20 cricket.
