Tahir joins Nottinghamshire

Imran Tahir has joined Nottinghamshire until the end of the season, replacing Ben Hilfenhaus as the club's main overseas player. Hilfenhaus returned to Australia last month after suffering a hip injury.

Nottinghamshire will be Tahir's fifth county, having previously played for Hampshire, Warwickshire, Yorkshire and Middlesex. He is expected to make his debut in the Royal London Cup fixture against Essex on Sunday and will be available to play in the Championship as well, either side of his South Africa commitments.

"Imran is experienced, he's played lots of cricket in England and we know how effective international-class spinners can be during the business end of a county season," Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, Mick Newell, said. "We were always open to replacing Ben with a spinner, Imran was available and looks a good option for us.

"We've started to play on some increasingly dry pitches this season, surfaces on which an extra spin option might help us win some matches. With the signing of Imran, we'll have that in most of our matches between now and the end of the season."

Tahir is an experienced campaigner in county cricket, having taken almost 200 wickets across all formats for Hampshire, who he last represented at the back end of the 2014 season. He has also represented South Africa in Test, ODI and T20 cricket and was a member of the team that got to the World Cup semi-final earlier this year.

"We see him as someone who can have success for us in both red and white ball cricket," Newell said. "A world class legspinner is a valuable commodity to any side in any form of the game, particularly one of Imran's quality and experience.

"We've built some momentum with the cricket we have played in recent weeks. Hopefully this addition will help us maintain that through to the end of the season."

Nottinghamshire were joint bottom of the Championship at the end of June but have risen to mid-table after two wins from their last three games. They missed out on a T20 quarter-final after a rain abandonment in their final match but have started well in the Royal London Cup, with two wins and a no result so far.

Dan Christian, who signed as Nottinghamshire's second overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast, has been filling in for Hilfenhaus during the Royal London Cup and will continue to be available when Tahir is on international duty. South Africa play New Zealand in two T20s and three ODIs between August 14 and 26, which Tahir is expected to be involved in.