Afridi, Rizwan, Amir, Hasan to abstain from County Championship latest round

This week’s Championship matches are being missed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, and Mohammad Amir, but Haris Rauf is expected to return after a side injury.

Rauf, who missed Yorkshire’s draw against Essex last week and now he did not bowl in the second innings of his most recent game, is playing in the four-day clash against Lancashire, which began on Thursday (May 12). 

After playing three games in as many weeks since arriving in the UK, Middlesex have rested Shaheen for their match against Nottinghamshire at Lord’s. And due to a family bereavement, Rizwan will be unavailable for Sussex’s match against Leicestershire. 

"The club would like to send our best wishes to Riz and his family at this difficult time,” the Sussex club statement read.

Meanwhile, Amir has a hamstring injury and will miss Gloucestershire’s match against Somerset.

"He requires a period of rest after being away from red-ball cricket for a number of years and bowling a large number of overs in a short space of time since joining Gloucestershire,” the club statement said.

After Naseem Shah injured his shoulder on his debut for Gloucestershire, Amir was signed as a short-term replacement, and the club announced that he would play for their second XI in the coming weeks before returning to the first team during the T20 Blast.

Meanwhile, Gloucestershire’s injury crisis has been exacerbated by Amir’s absence, with Chris Dent, Ben Charlesworth (both feet), and David Payne (ankle) all out this week. 

As a result, they’ve signed three short-term loan players - Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Brad Wheal (Hampshire), and Zak Chappell (Hampshire, Nottinghamshire - one month).

Chris Woakes is still out for Warwickshire due to an undisclosed injury called ‘niggling knee problem’, and Olly Stone is ‘some way off a first-team return’. After missing Surrey’s win over Northamptonshire due to illness, Ollie Pope has returned to the squad.